The Los Angeles Rams will look to get their season back on track against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5 and may have a degree of difficulty in finding a way to win if they can’t find creative ways to move the ball on offense. In recent matchups, the team has largely been reliant on quarterback Matthew Stafford to drive the team to the end zone, but with several injuries to their offensive line affecting his protection, they will look to the ground attack to score points.
Dallas has had a hard time stopping their opponents’ running games, though head coach Sean McVay seemed unsure that the Cowboys aren’t better than they’ve shown on paper. In his comments to the media on Friday, he told reporters that Dallas’ defense poses a great threat to every phase of his offensive strategy and that he hopes a diverse game plan will keep them on their toes.
“I think the stats at this point probably are a little bit overrated,” McVay explained. “I see a really good defense that’s good in all phases. I’m not sure what they’re ranked defensively, but I see a team that’s outstanding defensively. So yeah, we always want to be able to establish the run. Anytime that we’ve been in upper echelon offense or any really upper echelon offense, I think has the ability to do either or. I think for you to be a complete offense, you have to be able to do that and I want to be able to start seeing us establish that more consistently, for sure.”
After all of the Rams’ success last season, McVay has been wary of trying to fix a strategy that isn’t broken. Now, with his team sitting at a 2-2 record and on the cusp of going below .500, he will look to adjust before the 2022 campaign gets out of hand. Injuries to the offensive line have made a remarkable impact on Matthew Stafford, and if he is kept under duress as he was against the San Francisco 49ers last week, McVay will have no choice but to try his luck on the ground and hope for the best.