NFL.com: Rams most physical running team

It’s getting more difficult for Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay to deny he’s leading an offense that leans on running the football.

While McVay preaches balance, so far this season the Rams have veered more toward running the football to set up the passing game. The Rams have called a league-high 111 runs through three games, averaging 170 yards a contest.

According to former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew, writing for NFL.com (Jones-Drew also serves as an analyst for the Rams on game day), L.A. has the most physical running game in the league right now.

Jones-Drew: “Last year, the Rams struggled to find an offensive identity. This year, it's clear Sean McVay wants his team to be physical -- and it is. The Rams lead the league in rushing attempts through three weeks, averaging 37 carries per game, and their committee approach -- featuring Darrell Henderson, Cam Akers and Malcolm Brown -- allows them to trot out fresh legs on nearly every play, from start to finish, even if one player (Henderson, lately) ends up with more carries than the others. … the Rams lead the league in forced missed tackles with 26 (five more than any other team). You might expect that kind of performance with a high-profile star like Todd Gurley in the backfield, but Gurley is gone -- and this unheralded group is putting the league on notice.”

Jones-Drew also placed Rams leading rusher Darrell Henderson Jr. at No. 14 on his list of the top 15 backs in the league through the first three weeks.

Hard to argue with anything Jones-Drew says here based on how the Rams produced through three games, and it’s really been about how the offensive line has performed so far this season, consistently clearing running lanes for the team’s running backs.

“It’s just kind of how our mentality is right now,” Rams center Austin Blythe said. “Everybody’s confident coming off the ball, trusting in the fundamentals and techniques that were coached, trusting in the plays calls that Sean calls, and again just coming off the ball and having fun. And trusting the backs to hit the right holes.”

McVay said the physical mindset has been created by the players and new strength coach Justin Lovett.

Further, that physical mindset has been helped by the fact that the offensive line had to work daily in training camp against the likes of Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Leonard Floyd.

“I think there’s been a little bit of the iron sharpens iron with how much competitive work we’ve been able to do, the way that camp was set up,” McVay said. “You’re going good-on-good, with our offensive guys against the defensive guys, and O-line vs. D-line. I think both of those groups have really challenged one another and made each other better.”