The Los Angeles Rams' anemic offense continued its season-long Pop Warner-level standard in Sunday's 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, turning the ball over five times and totaling just 312 yards.
"We looked like a middle school offense out there," running back Todd Gurley said after the loss, via ESPN.com. "I mean, I'm going to be quiet. My mom said if you don't have anything good to say, don't even say it. I'm just going to leave it as that."
It's difficult to hear that "middle school" accusation without wondering what offensive coordinator Rob Boras has done to keep his job beyond this season. The latest in a string of ineffective play callers under coach Jeff Fisher, Boras' group is averaging 14.9 points per game, good for last place in the NFL.
Coaches can't hang it all on rookie quarterback Jared Goff either. The Rams scored a mere 15.4 points per game before the rookie came on to downgrade the offense (13.8 PPG) the last four contests.
If the Rams' passing game has been a disappointment, their running game has been an epic tragedy. On Sunday, Gurley earned a meager 61 rushing yards on 16 carries -- he did punch in the Rams' first touchdown of the game -- and added three receptions for 22 yards. Gurley does not have a 100-yard rushing game this season. Since 1970, no running back that played all his team's games has averaged as many carries per game as Gurley (17.5) without reaching 100-plus rush yards at least once, per NFL Research.
Gurley was asked after Sunday's loss -- the Rams' eighth in nine games -- whether everyone was showing up.
"I don't," the running back replied. "I really don't. We're just going through the motions. It looks like everybody's just playing to get through."
Fisher tied an NFL record with his 165th career loss on Sunday. Gurley defended the coaches, stating the players are the ones on the field. If it's not the coaches running the middle school offense, then what can the Rams do to get back on track the final three games?
"I really don't know," he said. "I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really don't know. We all got to figure that out."
Really.
UPDATE: The Ramsannounced Monday they were relieving Jeff Fisher of his coaching duties.