The big story coming out of the Rams win over the Cardinals on Sunday was the emergence of Todd Gurley. He is marvelous to watch in the run game and is groin-grabbingly smooth. But possibly the more interesting offensive storyline should be the performance of Tavon Austin and how the Rams used him.
Finally.
Austin was drafted in eigth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. His skill set is that of a coveted offensive NFL player: he's small and quick, making for a potential matchup nightmare with big defensive backs and elusive in open space. Use him all over the field and you have a weapon no one else who is difficult to prepare for. The Rams rarely did that his first two seasons, until Sunday.
Week 4 was only the fifth time Austin's received seven-plus targets in a game in his career. The Rams made the most out of those targets, resulting in a six-catch, 96-yard, two-touchdown day.
Most impressive was the different ways Frank Cignetti and the Rams offense got Austin involved.
In the ground game
On the Rams' first drive -- set up by Arizona fumbling a kickoff return -- Austin was utilized in the play-action game. Austin motioned underneath Nick Foles (in the pistol formation) and pretended to take the handoff. The additional fake (and maybe an expectation of a run play) helped freeze the Cardinals linebackers long enough for Gurley to leak out left and catch an 8-yard pass.
On the Rams' second possession of the game, they would motion Austin from right to left on first down, Foles handed it to him -- again -- getting him in space and letting Austin navigate his way for 8 yards.
St. Louis went back to the well on this play, giving Austin the ball around the left end again in the fourth quarter on basically the exact same play. The difference later? Gurley established himself as a really dangerous threat in the run game. Austin would pick up 12 yards.
The next play? A 52-yard run from Gurley featuring Austin in motion on a play fake.
Sometimes the threat of a weapon is as important as the actual weapon.
Via the deep ball
Oh hey! Tavon can be used like, you know, a wide receiver. Cignetti sent him deep on the Rams second possession of the second quarter. Foles sat in the pocket with plenty of time, took a shot to Austin and he went up and challenged for the ball to reel in a 47-yard reception.
Tavon Austin already had a 12-yard score. He's getting greedy after this touch-the-sky 47-yard catch. #STLvsAZ http://t.co/G3jHwPhHd8
— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2015
Foles also targeted Austin once more deep in this game.
In the screen game
On the Rams' second play of the second half, Cignetti went right back to his playmaker. Foles faked play action to Gurley and swung the ball over to Austin, who'd awaited the quick throw to the opposit side of the field:
Austin caught the ball with ample blockers waiting:
This resulted in a 17-yard pickup.
It doesn't always work -- two plays later the Rams kicked it to Austin in a wideout screen. If Patrick Peterson doesn't make a really nice tackle, Austin could've created a lot of yardage on second down.
Austin really showed his explosiveness on the next play after Gurley's big fourth-quarter run, catching another screen on a play that could've been a Mathieu interception and instead ended up being Austin using his quickness to pick up 9 yards. (Up 17-15 at the time it was an aggressive play call.)
In the red zone
Austin reeled in the first score of this game thanks to a smart play design from St. Louis. On a 3rd and 5 from Arizona's 12, the Rams lined up three receivers, including Austin, in a trips left formation. Jared Cook went vertical while Stedman Bailey ran a short drag route underneath, bringing Tyrann Mathieu, a guy who's typically great in a matchup like this, with him. Austin acted like he was running a dig route and then cut sharp back to the interior where he found himself wide open with more green room than the red zone should afford. There was nothing Jerraud Powers could do.
On Austin's second touchdown he lined up in a mini-stack underneath Cook. The Cardinals sent the house. Foles hung in there -- and credit to Benny Cunningham (yellow) for the big blitz pick up -- waiting until after Deone Bucannon finished leaping and delivered a strike to Austin running a slant across the middle. Powers made a nice effort on the ball but Austin made a better catch.
Moving Forward
There are reasons to view this performance as a breakout game from Austin. While we’ve seen the diminutive receiver tempt us before -- near the end of his rookie year, Austin caught a pair of passes for 138 yards and returned four punts for 145 yards, three touchdowns in all -- this game was different.
It was a combination of usage (7 targets, 6 catches), actual production in the wide receiver game and creative scheming to get the ball in his hand. If Cignetti and the Rams are willing to trust Austin like this moving forward and Gurley develops into the franchise bellcow he looked like in the second half of this game against Arizona, the Rams offense could be scary.
The Rams need to use this game plan every single week. I know it's not ball-bearings simple, but Austin is a playmaker who needs the ball in his hands. Seven targets in the pass game and two carries in the run game should be a nice bar to clear every week. This is a team needing explosion on offense to complement Gurley.
Ten touches isn't too much to ask for a former first-round pick, and with that benchmark, the Rams could now have two dynamic players -- Gurley AND Austin -- capable of taking the ball the length of the field at a moment's notice.
