Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson run hard for Rams in Todd Gurley’s absence
It remains to be seen whether Rams star running back Todd Gurley will return from a left thigh injury and play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
But running backs Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson showed, at least early in the Rams’ 20-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers, that they can be effective.
Brown ran the ball five times for 40 yards during the Rams’ seven-play scoring drive on their first possession, the first time this season that the Rams scored a first-quarter touchdown. He got five more carries in the game but finished with 40 yards.
“They make adjustments to what we’re doing and … we’ve got to go in and make some adjustments ourselves and try to get better from this,” Brown said.
Henderson, a third-round pick in last April’s draft, rushed for 22 yards on his first carry and 14 on his second. He lost a crucial fumble on the first play of the second half and finished with 39 yards in six carries.
“There were some good hard physical runs,” coach Sean McVay said. “Clearly the first two runs that Darrell had were really exciting, where you could see the speed and the athleticism and then there’s always some things that we can look at to be better…. I thought those guys had some positive moments.”
After wins over sub-.500 Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, many wondered if unbeaten 49ers were for real, until their 20-7 win over Rams.
Jared Goff completes 13 of 24 passes against the 49ers for career-low 78 yards, the previous low of 90 coming in rookie season also against San Francisco.
The Rams seemed to be rolling before a goal-line stand by the 49ers and a key fumble by Darrell Henderson led to San Francisco’s 20-7 victory.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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