Todd Gurley felt good about getting a ton of carries again

Todd Gurley’s reduced workload was such a hot topic for the past year that Sunday was a bit of a shock.

The Los Angeles Rams’ entire offense seemed to be Gurley, just like it was before talk about his knee issues and a lessened snap count late last season. At one point NBC showed that Gurley had played 22 of 28 Rams offensive plays, and had 20 touches on those 22 plays.

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Gurley finished with 97 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and also had three catches for 36 yards. It was a vintage performance in a 17-7 win over the Chicago Bears.

Todd Gurley happy to get the ball

For the first couple years of Sean McVay’s time in Los Angeles, Gurley got the ball as often as he could handle it. He was one of the few NFL running backs who rarely came off the field. And he was one of the best players in football. In 2017, he won NFL offensive player of the year.

Sunday was a throwback performance.

"I guess I felt like the old Todd," Gurley told the media, via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. "But it's cool, man. I'm just happy I was able to go out there and take advantage of my opportunities."

Gurley has been splitting time at running back most of the season. Before Sunday he had 104 carries in eight games, which was well below his career averages. He welcomed all the touches on Sunday night.

"Ain't nobody gonna complain about getting the ball,” Gurley said, via Thiry. “If you do, then you're a damn fool."

Gurley was focal point vs. Bears

Whether Gurley gets another game like Sunday remains to be seen.

He was clearly the focal point of the game plan against the Bears. The Rams were without top receivers Brandin Cooks (concussion) and Robert Woods (personal matter). Los Angeles clearly didn’t think it needed to score too many points against a Mitchell Trubisky-led Bears offense, and that was correct. The Rams were content to grind it out, passing only when necessary.

Last year Gurley signed a four-year, $57.5 million deal. That contract didn’t look so great when he was sharing time with running backs Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson this season, or when he was splitting the carries with C.J. Anderson in the playoffs last year.

But for one game, Gurley’s workload looked familiar.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab