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ramBRO
And please spare me the "Gurley wasn't 100%" line. At that point in the season, I'm betting that several players were out there battling "irritation" in several areas of their respective bodies.
Except if he still had issues with an arthritic knee, then, that's not the same as the other players with various physical issues.
For a back, such issues would cut down on lateral movement and reduce their speed and mean playing with pain in the knee AS A RUNNING BACK.
So if he wasn't 100% in the knee, then, that;s a real factor. Not an easily dismissed kind of thing.
Though truth is we don't know either way whether he had knee issues in that game or not.
....
I'm not looking to dismiss how an irritated knee can affect a RB at all. I accept the fact that Todd Gurley entered the Super Bowl with an irritated knee (likely arthritic) and that he was likely less than 100% (to what extent isn't clear to me).
But, if this initial knee irritation occurred sometime during/after the first game of the season, then I have to assume that there were some games thereafter where he was limited...and some not so much. As a matter of fact, the only game that I saw where he CLEARLY appeared to be hurting was the Philly game where he appeared to have a significant limp going on. He tried to push through it, but he was clearly limited. Prior to that, though, Todd Gurley appeared to be...Todd Gurley - irritated knee and all. He had a fantastic season and was the key to the offense's success.
Thereafter, leading up to the playoffs, Gurley had approx. 4 weeks of rest and rehab. And guess what? He ran all over the Cowboys. If his knee was bothering him, I saw no signs of it. Despite my not observing any apparent discomfort on his end, do I think he experienced some pain? Yes, I do. But he managed it and played very well. If CJ Anderson wasn't there, I suspect that he could have carried a heavier load.
Fast forward to the Super Bowl. Do I still believe that he was experiencing knee irritation? Yes, of course. But to my eye, he appeared to be the Todd Gurley we expect. This is why I brought up his 3rd quarter run. Like I said...check it out. He ran with power and bad intentions and absolutely blasted the Patriot defenders. He popped right up (not so much for Chung) and went to the huddle for the next play. Truth be told, after watching that play...I thought that we were going to win. I thought that we were going to ride Gurley until his leg broke off - both running and catching out of the backfield (or wherever).
That didn't happen. But I don't think it had anything to do with his knee.
