The Rams aren’t a cupcake matchup, but I sure like James Conner a lot. He’s been playing well, and I like the way that offense operates in the red zone – year after year.

When Kliff Kingsbury was hired, I remember looking at the number of rushing touchdowns his teams scored at the college level and being surprised. He has a spread-offense background, but he likes to use the threat of the pass to set up effective runs in short-yardage and goal-line situations. With how that offense functions, they can force defenses into putting more defensive backs on the field, and there’s also the dynamic of defenses always being worried about Kyler Murray skipping outside for an easy walk-in touchdown, making it harder for them to plug things up between the tackles.

Conner has been the benefit of this recently, with 14 touchdowns this year. He’s benefited from Chase Edmonds being out with a high-ankle sprain, but even before that Edmonds injury, Conner was the back of choice in goal line situations, with more size to bang inside.

Kingsbury’s offenses scored 18 and 22 rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons, and they’re on pace for even more this year. Since he was hired, the Cardinals are one of only seven teams that has averaged more than a rushing touchdown per game three years in a row.

With 2021 not yet being completed, I’m going with per-game numbers in the chart below. Stats for the current season are built off team numbers through Week 13.

OFFENSES AVERAGING THE MOST RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS (last 3 years)
YearTeamGTDAvg
2020New Orleans16301.88
2020Tennessee16261.63
2021Arizona12191.58
2021Indianapolis13201.54
2020Baltimore16241.50
2021Philadelphia13191.46
2019San Francisco16231.44
2021Tennessee12171.42
2021Cleveland12171.42
2020Arizona16221.38
2021San Francisco12161.33
2019Tennessee16211.31
2020Cleveland16211.31
2019Baltimore16211.31
2020New England16201.25
2020Minnesota16201.25
2020Las Vegas16201.25
2019LA Rams16201.25
2020Indianapolis16201.25
2021Cincinnati12151.25
2019Carolina16201.25
2020San Francisco16191.19
2019Minnesota16191.19
2020LA Rams16191.19
2020Carolina16191.19
2021New England13151.15
2020Washington16181.13
2019Green Bay16181.13
2019Dallas16181.13
2019Arizona16181.13
2021Carolina12131.08
2021Baltimore12131.08
2019New England16171.06
2019Indianapolis16171.06
2019Houston16171.06
2020Detroit16171.06

—Ian Allan