Darrell Henderson shines in Cam Akers’ absence despite Rams falling to the Bills

The LA Rams continued to show that their offense is closer to the 2018 version than the 2019 version in a thrilling 35-32 loss at Buffalo against the Bills on Sunday.

Once again, the Rams’ running attack was on point as Darrell Henderson continued to deliver. With starter Cam Akers out with a ribs injury, Henderson came through with 114 yards on 20 carries against Buffalo.

Henderson had 81 yards on 12 carries last week in a 37-19 win at Philadelphia with Akers out for much of game. For the season, Henderson has 201 yards on 35 carries with a whopping 5.7 yards per carry average. So, the 2019 third-round pick is developing rapidly. He had 147 yards rushing on 39 carries as a rookie.

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The Rams ran the ball 32 times on Sunday and now have 111 rushes in three games. That’s an average of 37 carries a game, compared to LA’s average of 25 rushes in 2019. There were a lot of questions about how the Rams would proceed in the running game in the post-Todd Gurley era and the early results are extremely encouraging.

The run game is a huge part of what Sean McVay is doing with this offense. With Akers probably back soon, the Rams will have plenty of options with Akers. Henderson and Malcom Brown, who had seven carries Sunday.

It is clear Henderson is showing he is ready for a bigger role in 2020 ... and beyond.