Let’s face it. Low rushing totals are a byproduct of the
pass-friendly league that is now the NFL. Teams pass so much now that it seems
like they sometimes forget to run the ball.
This is especially true of teams that have a signal-caller
the quality of a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or a Drew Brees.
Manning who usually called his own plays as quarterback of the Indianapolis
Colts was definitely guilty of this and will bring the same tendencies to the
Denver Broncos.
The proof is in the pudding. Indianapolis ranked 31st,
32nd and 29th in rushing the last three years Manning was
under center there.
Now some will blame the Colts’ lack of talent at the running
back position but the Colts’ rushing totals had been in decline way before
their backfield talent started to drop off. Plus that didn’t seem to hinder the
Colts from advancing to the Super Bowl in 2009.
But that has been the trend for a number of teams over the
past decade or so. While it wasn’t a big trend in the 80’s or early 90’s, the
West Coast offense incorporated a philosophy that considered a short pass the
same as a running play.
As teams have started to move towards the high-octane
passing attacks that we see now, many of these teams seemed to have adopted
that same methodology to their offense.
A four or five-yard completion on first down has the same
effect that a four or five-yard running play does. As long as the team can stay
out of second-and-long or third-and-long situations then the defense has to be
prepared for either a run or a pass on the next play instead of just lining up
for the pass and teeing off on the quarterback.
These high-octane offenses aren’t executing as proficiently
as the West Coast offense did though because the West Coast offense (under Bill
Walsh) still sought to have a balanced run/pass ratio. Offenses now call way
more pass plays than run plays.
This actually helps the defense because they don’t concern
themselves as much with the run knowing teams like the Colts and the Patriots
weren’t going to run much. Of course that didn’t make those offenses any easier
to stop but from time to time defenses were able to slow them down.
Besides, running the ball is overrated. The Colts were in the bottom of the league
running the ball when they went to the Super Bowl and the last two Super Bowl
winners were ranked 24th and 32th respectively.
So don’t expect Broncos’ fans to worry too much about ignoring
their rushing attack as long as Manning continues his winning ways. Of course
that won’t endear him much to Denver’s running backs but hey, having Tim Tebow
around didn’t make Denver’s wide receivers very happy last season either.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
True,Denver's rushing numbers will suffer,but I think it's more important to look at rushing numbers in playoff games rather than the regular season.It's pretty evident Manning as a post season quarterback has not been great.The year the Colts won the Superbowl, Manning threw 3 td's and 7 picks in the playoffs,but the Colts,unlike the regular season that year, ran the ball well.I thought Manning would take a hint and not attempt to do it all in the playoffs after that as playoff football features better defenses and coordinators and requires more balance,but silly me.Ever since come playoff time Manning shucks the run almost completely.Result?No more Superbowl wins.
ReplyDeleteVery true. The Giants had the last ranked rushing attack heading into the playoffs, but that is very misleading. Bradshaw was hurt up until week 13 or so. Once he came back they started rushing the ball much better.
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