Rams need to get Todd Gurley more touches and space to run

Todd Gurley is a man of few words. Two weeks into the regular season, he’s also been a man of few yards.

“Whatever,” Gurley said.

Except if you’re the Rams, it’s not, “Whatever.”

Gurley is to the Rams what Kobe Bryant was to the Lakers, what Corey Seager is to the Dodgers. When opponents contain him, they contain the offense, which explains why the Rams are the only team in the NFL that hasn’t scored a touchdown.

The Rams have to get the football in the hands of their Pro Bowl running back. They have to create space for him.

They will be fortunate to win seven games again if they continue to do what they did Sunday in their home-opening, 9-3 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Heck, they will be lucky if their fans stay awake once the novelty of their return to Los Angeles wears off.

With Gurley limited to 20 touches — he rushed for 51 yards and caught a pass for 19 more — the Rams were limited to three field goals.

“We have to go out there and get some touchdowns, but it’s better than what we did last week,” Gurley said.

Last week, the Rams were completely shut out, with Gurley accounting for only 47 yards in 17 carries in a 28-0 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.

“It’s football,” Gurley said. “You’re not going to have a great game every game.”

He might have to.

It is already abundantly clear opposing defenses don’t fear the Rams passing game. That absence of respect has allowed them to focus on Gurley, who rushed for 1,106 yards in only 13 games as a rookie last year.

Seahawks safety Earl Thomas described the Rams offense as predictable and called quarterback Case Keenum “a game manager.”

Cornerback Richard Sherman offered appraisal of the journeyman.

“He’s not taking any risks,” Sherman said. “Turnovers usually come when you get ahead a little bit and they got to take bigger risks, but this game he had everything in front of him. He didn’t take any real risks down the field and if he did, he just threw it out of bounds.”

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The Times staff breaks down the Rams’ 9-3 victory over the Seahawks in their home debut after 21 seasons in St. Louis.

Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said he could tell the Seahawks and 49ers were keying in on Gurley based on their defensive schemes.

“People are doing a lot of different type of things, twist games, D-line movement, a lot more blitzing to try to stop him from being able to blow open gaps, taking away lanes,” Safford said.

While Keenum was largely conservative, he took advantage of the attention paid to his running back to make an occasional throw downfield.

After a run by Gurley drew a facemask penalty, Keenum faked a handoff to him and launched a pass down the right sideline to Tavon Austin for a 17-yard completion. The play set up a 39-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein.

Another play-action pass, this one for 44 yards to tight end Lance Kendricks late in the second quarter, moved the Rams into position for their second field goal. Gurley ran the ball on the previous two plays for a combined 13 yards.

“You can say whatever the run game with Todd, he’s respected,” Keenum said. “People respect him running the football. Any time you stick the ball out there and have him fake — he does a great job of that stuff, and with protections — you can say he’s the reason a lot of those passes downfield are working.”

Keenum completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards, which was enough to temporarily quiet the speculation of when he will be replaced by No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff.

The question is whether Keenum can help Gurley the way Gurley has helped him.

Receiver Kenny Britt said the Rams could throw to Gurley more. Gurley has caught only one pass in each of the first two games.

Right tackle Rob Havenstein said the offensive line had a responsibility, too.

“I think us as an O-line, we need to get him going, give him holes to go ahead and make special plays,” Havenstein said. “That’s something we’re going to work on this next week. Obviously, Todd’s a special player. He doesn’t need much. It’s up to all of us to give him the seams and let him make plays.”

In other words, everyone knows. Gurley has to get more touches.

In the wake of a victory, Coach Jeff Fisher was able to make light of the situation, wisecracking, “He’ll just be fresh at the end of the season.”

If Fisher doesn’t get the ball into the Gurley’s hands more, he won’t be laughing much longer.