The Los Angeles Rams only needed one source of offense on Thursday night: Todd Gurley. The running back - already off to a much-improved start this season - took it to the next level against the San Francisco 49ers, running, catching, and dominating throughout the evening. It may have been the first performance of Week 3, but it also may go down as the best performance of Week 3, as the Rams proved to be victorious in a high-scoring affair at a divisional opponent's home stadium.
Gurley reps for the Rams
For most NFL fans, his contributions to the team on Thursday overshadow all.
He received the ball a whopping 28 times out of the backfield, rushing for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught five passes for 36 yards and a touchdown. Besides some trickery with receiver Tavon Austin, no other member of the Rams received carries out of the backfield. Nobody else needed to; despite his low average yards per carry, Gurley was having no issue pushing piles forward.
His steady play from the very start - he caught his touchdown on the Rams' first offensive play of the game - helped settle quarterback Jared Goff into a solid groove. The young quarterback had one of the best games of his career, throwing just six incompletions and completing three touchdowns. Still, Gurley was deserving of MVP honors for the game.
After some late dramatics, Los Angeles proved victorious in the highest-scoring game in Thursday night history, 41-39.
Fantasy football players appreciate Gurley
The Rams may have been appreciative of Gurley, but fantasy football players were likely ecstatic. After all, three touchdowns is a huge amount for any game. Five receptions helps even more in PPR leagues.
ESPN scored him for 37.9 points in standard PPR formats, the highest score for the game. The next closest was wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who finished 9.3 points behind Gurley for the evening.
In fact, only one player has had a better fantasy performance so far this season: Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt on opening night.
He exceeded 45 fantasy points in his NFL debut against the New England Patriots. Gurley scored 20.6 points in Week 1 and 26.6 points in Week 2, so he has continually improved over the early part of this season. He is currently the best fantasy player on the Rams by a large margin and continuing to make waves as one of the best fantasy players in the entire league, albeit with a small sample size so far.
