Rams rank first in rushing offense by DVOA

You wouldn’t know it by their total rushing yards or yards per carry, but the Los Angeles Rams have been the most efficient rushing offense in the NFL through six weeks. The Rams rank first in rushing DVOA at FootballOutsiders.

One thing Los Angeles didn’t abandon in Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the run. A strategy that worked in their comeback bid against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3, even if the Bills offense was able to overpower the Rams defense to re-take the lead and win. But LA wasn’t able to finish off their most successful second half drive in San Francisco — a series that included seven of the first eight plays as runs, only to end with an incompletion and interception from the two — and then McVay, seeing time slip away, passed the ball the rest of the way.

The Rams last 17 plays were passes.

Darrell Henderson finished with 88 rushing yards on 14 carries. The added element of Robert Woods as a runner — 76 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown — doesn’t hurt their DVOA ranking either.

DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) is not the holy grail of NFL stats. It is just one measurement. The Rams rank eighth in EPA (Expected Points Added) and you can’t measure how valuable a team is as a rushing team in the moments that matter through a number. But do the Rams look a lot better as a rushing team in 2020 than they did last season? That is clear to everybody and all numbers.