Rams need to get their line running properly in order for their offense to get off the ground

A journey of a thousand yards for an NFL running back begins with a single step, but not necessarily that of the ball carrier. The success of an offense hinges more on how the large men up front fire at the point of attack.

“It comes down to the simplest things,” said Rams offensive line coach Paul Boudreau, in his 30^th NFL season. “You get beat or you win on your first or second step, whether it’s a run or pass. If you’re inconsistent with your footwork or your hands, you’re going to have a chance to lose.”

So far this season, the Rams (3-4) are losing far too many battles in the trenches. They rank 29^th in the NFL in rushing offense and 27^th in passing offense entering Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers in the Coliseum.

A team that hoped to lean heavily on the run has seen Todd Gurley, a breakout star as a rookie last season, held to 403 yards and three touchdowns after rushing for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns in 13 games in 2015.

Gurley, who had five games with at least 128 yards rushing last season, ranks 38^th out of 39 statistically qualifying running backs with an average of 3.0 yards per carry. There have been so few holes that Gurley is averaging only 1.34 yards before first contact, according to ESPN.

“We’re not clicking in the running game anywhere near like we did last year — it just isn’t happening,” Boudreau said. “I realize that defenses are loading the box, they’re stacking it up because of Todd, but they did that last year too and we made it work.

“The running game is not like the passing game, where if you run the wrong route, you can still catch the ball. One guy misses up front, one guy doesn’t do the right thing up front, you can’t get Todd going. The inconsistency is the thing that’s bothering the … out of me right now. We have to fix it.”

The Rams are relatively young up front. They used seven of 20 draft picks i on offensive linemen in 2014 and 2015, and four of those players — tackles Greg Robinson and Rob Havenstein, guards Jamon Brown and Cody Wichmann — are starting or playing regularly this season.

The six primary linemen averaged 2.5 years of NFL experience entering the season, a figure that is skewed by left guard Rodger Saffold, a seven-year pro. When Eric Dickerson joined the Rams in 1983, the line averaged 6.4 years’ experience.

“It takes an offensive line a little time to play together and get it going,” said Jackie Slater, a Hall of Fame former Rams tackle and current Azusa Pacific line coach.

But this is essentially the same group that cleared the way for Gurley in 2015.

“That’s the frustrating thing,” Brown said. “You start to wonder, ‘What’s the difference?’ I think it’s a combination of teams game-planning us — they know what to do and are creating complex and difficult looks for us to block up — and us not finishing our blocks.”

Slater, 62, does not see a lack of talent. Robinson, the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft, “has unbelievable strength, quickness and very good range,” Slater said. “And on the other side, Havenstein is a very talented guy.

“[Center Tim] Barnes is a smart, tough guy who can make calls and battle it out with guys on the inside. Brown and Wichmann have showed they belong. And Saffold is the veteran leader, the Swiss Army knife of the group, a guy who can play anywhere.”

So why is the sum of the line not as good as the parts?

“There have been a lot of times where everyone has taken a turn at having a bad play,” Barnes said. “If everyone does that, then it’s five bad plays. So that adds up. We might have a good game overall, but if each guy had an ‘oops’ or an ‘uh-oh,’ that’s more than what you want at the end of the day.”

Said Boudreau: “It’s always a different guy. You think you have one guy fixed, and then it’s the next guy.”

Robinson’s struggles are the most perplexing. While Saffold, Barnes, Wichmann and Havenstein receive average to below average ratings by Pro Football Focus, Robinson is ranked the fourth-worst tackle in the NFL with a “poor” grade of 38.5 through seven games. He leads the NFL with 10 penalties.

Last week, the third-year tackle from Auburn said he believed his early struggles have led to a reputation with officials where “they’re looking for anything … and if it looks like I’m holding, they’re [calling] it. I’ve just got to be critical of those things and try to fix it.”

And the Rams see it as fixable.

“I had [Hall of Fame tackle] Willie Roaf as a rookie in New Orleans [in 1983], and this guy, potentially, could be as good as or better than Willie,” Boudreau said of Robinson. “It just hasn’t clicked. Coming into this year, from a mental and technique standpoint, he was starting to get it.

“But then he has lapses where he’ll stop his feet at the end of the play, he’ll grab a guy instead of continuing to grind and lean on a guy where you can’t get a holding penalty called.”

The Rams’ 17-10 loss to the New York Giants in London on Oct. 23 was a microcosm of Robinson’s season.

“There were some sets in the pass protection where … you would feel really good speaking at a clinic about how to do it,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “Then, maybe a series later, all of a sudden, you could put a clinic tape together on how not to do some things. You see flashes of it all the time.”

Slater said the Rams shouldn’t give up on Robinson.

“I think it’s just a matter of time before the light goes on and he gets some of those technical issues ironed out,” Slater said. “Once he does that and he starts playing with a little confidence, then his talent will come to the surface.”

Neither Coach Jeff Fisher, who did not make any personnel changes during the bye week, nor Boudreau have given up on the line. While execution has been a problem, effort has not.

“They’re in here as a group on their day off at 8 a.m. watching tape, sitting with the quarterbacks and running backs and going over protections, and they don’t have to be here,” Boudreau said.

“That’s a great starting spot, when you have a group that’s willing to put the time in to get better. Then you have a chance. It’s just a matter of having that one breakout game where we can get Todd 100 yards. Then, it becomes contagious.”