Todd Gurley received a great deal of criticism last season for his poor sophomore campaign. He was being labeled a bust by some after he failed to reach 1,000 yards rushing on 278 carries.

It was reasonable to say he had a bad season because, well, he did, but Gurley has silenced his doubters in 2017 thanks to his red hot start. In four games, Gurley has 362 yards rushing and another 234 yards receiving, finding the end zone seven times – one more touchdown than he had all of last year.

So what’s changed? Well, a lot – most of which Gurley can’t control. Sure, he’s a more mature runner in the way that he waits for holes to develop rather than running into the backs of his linemen, but there’s something very different about the defenses Los Angeles is facing.

Teams are finally respecting Jared Goff as a passer, and the numbers prove it.

Against the Cowboys on Sunday, Gurley saw a loaded box (eight-plus defenders) on just 4.55 percent of his carries, according to Next Gen Stats. That was the lowest number in the NFL by a wide margin with the next closest being 10 percent for three running backs.

On the year, Gurley has faced a loaded box on just 22.35 percent of his carries – down from 25.5 percent last season. That may not seem like a big drop, but when you consider the fact that he had several games last season in which the defense loaded the box 63 percent of the time, you realize just how different teams view the Rams’ offense.

In Week 1, the Colts loaded the box 10.5 percent of the time. In Week 2, the Redskins did it 18.8 percent of the time. That number spiked in Week 3 against the 49ers (46.4 percent) before dropping dramatically against the Cowboys on Sunday.

Outside of that game against the 49ers, teams have been reluctant to stack the box. They can’t do that because of the way Goff is throwing the ball, which is partly thanks to Sean McVay’s dynamic offensive game plan.

Goff isn’t just avoiding turnovers and completing passes at a much higher rate. He’s taking shots downfield and making accurate throws on intermediate and deep passes, which forces defenses to respect the Rams’ aerial attack. That wasn’t the case last season, which is part of the reason for Gurley’s struggles.

If this trend continues, Gurley is going to surpass 2,000 yards from scrimmage. It’ll be extremely difficult to do, especially with the Rams’ upcoming schedule, but Goff is playing a big role in Gurley’s resurgence.