Los Angeles Rams Are the NFL’s Biggest Pretender

Looking at the NFC West standings right now makes you test the amount of time eyes can be rubbed before there’s a reaction of some kind.

You look, and nothing seems real. So you rub those eyes or squint a bit more. Then once that fails you take a walk. On that walk you stare for a long time at a large body of water. But nothing you do changes a fact that doesn’t compute.

This fact: The Los Angeles Rams have a 3-1 record after beating the Arizona Cardinals 17-13 on Sunday and lead their division.

The same team that was pummeled 28-0 in Week 1 sits atop a division as the 2016 NFL season rounds the quarter pole.

The same team that didn’t score an offensive touchdown until Week 3 is among the league’s one-loss squads., which means somehow we can put the Rams in the same sentence with the New England Patriots without scoffing or choking on something (you didn’t choke just now, right?).

Oh, and the same team that calls Case Keenum its starting quarterback would be playoff bound if the season ended today.

But of course the season doesn’t end today because a four-game NFL year wouldn’t make much sense. Stay with that thought, because early October is often a time for nonsensical football oddness.

Right around when stores start to sell jumbo-sized bags of your favorite Halloween tooth-decaying candy is also the time pretenders rise around the NFL. In the near future we’ll be looking back at the Rams, viewing them as the most laughably obvious pretender in recent memory.

Why? Well, let’s start with the absence of run blocking. As Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole quite rightly observed, even in a win on Sunday, running back Todd Gurley had little to work with.

Todd Gurley hasn’t seen open field one time this season on a run. Just no openings

— Jason Cole (@JasonColeBR) October 2, 2016

Gurley is a unique talent, and he’s the rare running back worthy of a top-10 draft pick. He promptly proved his value as a rookie when the now-22-year-old ran for 566 yards over just his first four starts. Even more impressively, he did that right after after completing his recovery from a torn ACL.

Fast forward to current times and we see a team that’s letting Gurley’s skill become an afterthought.

After four games in 2016, Gurley has logged a meager 216 rushing yards. Yes, he made a contribution as a pass-catcher during Sunday’s win with his 33-yard reception, which was quickly erased when Keenum fumbled.

But Gurley has to be …

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