The Los Angeles Rams are arguably the most surprising story of the first quarter of the NFL's season, jumping out to a 3-1 record and looking like an entirely different franchise from the lethargic team we saw in 2016. On Sunday, they went on the road and beat the Cowboys in Dallas, serving notice for their candidacy to surprise in the NFC this season.
Now they just need the fans of Los Angeles to show up to the games. Running back Todd Gurley, who is a viable MVP candidate through the first four weeks of the season, appeared on the "Rich Eisen Show" and literally begged the people of Los Angeles who are Rams fans to attend this weekend when they play the Seahawks.
"Please come to our games! Please come to our games!," Gurley said. "Obviously I guess the Seahawks have had lots of success over the past few years so there's a lot of Seahawks fans. So there will probably be a lot of Seahawks fans at the game. But that doesn't matter. We're just happy to have everybody come. And obviously if you start winning, the fans will start coming. Hopefully we can take this one this weekend and they'll keep coming."
It's a pretty massive game for the Rams: they have a 3-1 lead in the NFC West with the 2-2 Seahawks coming to town. The Seahawks won handily against the Colts, but the game was much closer than the score indicated.
This is a game the Rams can win, but it is also a game that will be a fantastic test of second-year quarterback Jared Goff, who has really emerged as a dangerous passer under new head coach Sean McVay. Goff looks night and day different than he did last year, which is a large result of the offensive style, Gurley believes.
"Obviously since we've been able to do some fast-paced stuff. That's [closer] to what he was doing at Cal," Gurley explained to Eisen. "It's their world, I'm just living in it. Whatever makes them comfortable, I'll do that. He's been stepping up his game, man, not turning the ball over, giving me touchdowns to score on [receptions]. He's definitely the first one in and the last one to leave."
Gurley also said that Goff isn't a different quarterback in the huddle at this point: he's basically the "same guy," but you could tell that Gurley clearly believes the change in offense and shift in approach has made a huge difference.
He wouldn't be wrong for believing that; the Rams were terrible last year, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The offense was designed to flow around Gurley in a run-heavy scheme, but it was basically a middle-school offense according to the former Georgia standout.
Now they're winging the ball all over the place to different weapons and featuring Gurley heavily in the passing game. The fans aren't all over this team as a successful squad yet, but continued victories will go a long way.
If you win it, they will come. Even in Los Angeles.