Quote:
Originally Posted by JB1089
This is an indisputable fact and the inability of the coaching staff to recognize it is going to kill us.
I see people talking about how we ran the ball well today. WHAT?
I don't think people understand how running the football works in the NFL. 3 and 4 yard runs =/= success. EVERY team is going to be stopped behind the LOS on a number of runs in every game. The only way for a running game to balance this out is by being able to break 10+ yard runs on a semi-regular basis. If you want to be run heavy, you need to break even more of those long than the average team. But we're the worst team in the league at that.
The year that Chris Johnson ran for 2,000 yards? He led the league in runs for no gain or negative yards.
11 carries for 36 yards
6 carries for 21 yards
3 carries for 3 yards
2 carries for 0 yards
Those are the numbers for our running backs. A long run of 8 yards.
The INT that Sanchez threw was terrible, but that was toward the end of the 2nd quarter and he was 9/10 before that. He was doing exactly what Rex and the coaching staff have wanted from him before that: taking the easy completion and coming away with positive yards, and we had zero points.
Even if we execute our preferred philosophy to perfection, we're not going to score points this year because we want to GROUND AND POUND with a terrible running game.
Is our plan really to win games 10-7?
The only way we're going to score is through the air. And those points are going to come along with turnovers and a ton of sacks. Still, that's preferable to the slow death that we'll be doomed to if we proceed with the current plan. You can win 8-9 games with a middling, turnover prone passing game and a great defense. Relying on a bad running game and a great defense is going to get you 3 or 4 wins because a "great" defense in 2012 is a defense that allows less than 20 points per game. And you're not going to score 20 by leaning on a bad running game.
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The exact opposite is true. If you can consistently run 4 yards you can win with that. That's Curtis Martin right there. You can get 3 yards, 5 yards, 4 yards, but you cannot get stuffed. A run of 8 yards then a loss of 2 leaves you 3rd and 6. If you run 10 yards then 12 yards, then 6 yards, -2 yards, then you're at 3rd and 8. You're much better off with a consistent 4 yards. Then you wear down a defense and leave yourself with consistently manageable 3rd downs. Breaking long runs means nothing, unless you score on them. That's why our attacking defense works. You can give up a few big plays, but if you just once in a drive get a negative play the chances of a team scoring are very slim.