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Kyren Williams and the Los Angeles Rams were once stuck at four yards rushing in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, October 15.
The end results for the second-year running back versus the NFC West rival? He not only broke out of the four-yard mark, he shattered a new career-best mark of 158 yards and scored twice in the 26-9 trouncing of the Cardinals.
How did Williams get to his breakout afternoon? By taking advantage of one big mistake the Cards made that was helped brought up by Next Gen Stats.
The Kind of Defense Williams and the Rams Faced That Led to Epic Day
Next Gen Stats brought up two stats attached to Williams’ day: One was him gaining 126 yards on plays where he went outside the tackles. The other big stat involved the number of defenders Williams faced on his runs: Less than eight near the line of scrimmage on all of his rushing attempts.
Another words, a defensive whiz like Jonathan Gannon, who once guided the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFC title by stifling some high-powered offenses in the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs, didn’t even think about loading up the box with up to nine to 10 defenders to stop Williams.
It points to why Williams had so much running room facing the Cardinal defense.
Williams Powered Through 3 Cardinal Defenders on 1 Run
Among those outside-the-tackle runs Williams broke off? One that involved him powering through three different bodies while on his way to the end zone — which was this red zone run during the fourth quarter that put the game away.
Turns out the Cardinals never adjusted on the previous run delivered by Williams. This scamper that began near the Cards’ 36-yard line was an off tackle run that went up the same right side where Williams scored later.
Williams’ big day became the talk of Rams Twitter and national media on Sunday afternoon.
Notable Reactions Plus, Did Williams Get the Game Ball?
Williams sparked quite the online reactions on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Kyren Williams is nasty,” NFL Network personality Kyle Brandt shared online.
NFL insider Matt Lombardo of Fan Buzz was another who raved about the way Williams ran on the Cardinals.
“Kyren Williams is a machine. Has 158 rushing yards and a touchdown today. Over the past three weeks, Williams has rushed for 314 yards and three touchdowns,” Lombardo shared online.
Per Associated Press NFL reporter Greg Beacham, Williams’ day was the most dominant by a Rams running back since Cam Akers surpassed the 170-yard mark in his rookie season of 2020.
“Kyren Williams’ 156 yards rushing are the most by a Rams player since Cam Akers went for 171 vs New England in December 2020,” Beacham said.
Williams even had to battle through a brief ankle injury that took him out momentarily before finishing the game. Head coach Sean McVay said that Williams had an ankle tweak but should be good moving forward when addressing reporters after the game. McVay also described the way the former Norte Dame Fighting Irish back ran at SoFi Stadium.
“He was running like an absolute man on a mission today,” McVay said after the game.
And in the end, Williams was rewarded with another career first — the game ball after the win.
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