Zeke needs 63 yards for a 1000 yd season

[RonnieT24]

There you go again Ronnie, bringing up long runs. You said you hate when people do that but you continue to do it and use it against guys like Pollard but when someone takes away from zekes one long run (which only happens once or twice a year if you consider 20+ yards long) then you start singing a different tune.

No surprise from hypocrite Ronnie.

Strange that you are talking about Zeke's long run even though I have yet to mention it. Go ahead and take it away.. Zeke would have finished with 18 carries for 74 yards.. Still a productive day and better than any game in Pollard's career except one if I'm not mistaken.. More importantly, his consistently converting potential negative plays into 3-4 yard games was HUGE for the offensive continuity. I have not mentioned the long run simply because my take on them has not changed.. Their nice, but they are not necessary to play winning football. If Zeke goes down when the guy had hold of him at 15 yards on that run we still move the chains, we still control the clock and we still win the game.. Again I don't believe any of you is stupid enough not to see that but I don't expect yall to acknowledge it.

 

[aria]

Strange that you are talking about Zeke's long run even though I have yet to mention it. Go ahead and take it away.. Zeke would have finished with 18 carries for 74 yards.. Still a productive day and better than any game in Pollard's career except one if I'm not mistaken.. More importantly, his consistently converting potential negative plays into 3-4 yard games was HUGE for the offensive continuity. I have not mentioned the long run simply because my take on them has not changed.. Their nice, but they are not necessary to play winning football. If Zeke goes down when the guy had hold of him at 15 yards on that run we still move the chains, we still control the clock and we still win the game.. Again I don't believe any of you is stupid enough not to see that but I don't expect yall to acknowledge it.

I mentioned it because you said he “balled out”. Without that run, he would have had 4.1ypc and ~74 total yards which is far from “balling out”. I wanted to mention your hypocrisy since it was not only relevant to my point about him not “balling out” without his one long run but also because you were simultaneously arguing with someone else about how a certain RB’s stats would have been much lower without his one long run.

Potential negative plays? Lol, how many, 2 or 3? During the game even the announcers said he wasn’t getting touched until 3 or 4 yards after the LOS and they were referring to the O line creating huge holes for him.

He looked ok due to the room that was created for him on most plays as most starting RB’s in the league would look ok, many even better under similar circumstances. I know you’re used to zeke looking lackadaisical and getting his 3.9 ypc average for the year but 4.1 doesn’t mean he was “balling out”, it means people have become so used to him sucking hind teet that when he looks average they translate that to great.

 

[Loso86]

Sure they do, most people just acknowledge that total yards due to total carries doesn’t make a RB elite. I can bring up plenty of other stats, and have, but they are ignored by zeke’s panty sniffers or you have guys like Ronnie who throw stats out left and right but if someone brings up a stat that he disagrees with he says “I don’t need no stat to tell me what I saw.” Lol.

Lmao

 

[RonnieT24]

I mentioned it because you said he “balled out”. Without that run, he would have had 4.1ypc and ~74 total yards which is far from “balling out”. I wanted to mention your hypocrisy since it was not only relevant to my point about him not “balling out” without his one long run but also because you were simultaneously arguing with someone else about how a certain RB’s stats would have been much lower without his one long run.

Potential negative plays? Lol, how many, 2 or 3? During the game even the announcers said he wasn’t getting touched until 3 or 4 yards after the LOS and they were referring to the O line creating huge holes for him.

He looked ok due to the room that was created for him on most plays as most starting RB’s in the league would look ok, many even better under similar circumstances. I know you’re used to zeke looking lackadaisical and getting his 3.9 ypc average for the year but 4.1 doesn’t mean he was “balling out”, it means people have become so used to him sucking hind teet that when he looks average they translate that to great.

What announcers said this? They were clearly watching a different game than I did..

I went through his carries for confirmation of what you have stated here..

Carry 1 - #75 beats Knight on an inside move and has Zeke for a 5 yard loss at the handoff.. Zeke shrugs him off, then dodges #54 who should have had Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. then finally #23 trips Zeke up for a 2 yard gain..

Carry 2 - The entire left side is pushed back two yards at the snap.. Unfortunately for us, we were running behind them.. The DT (looks like #78) grabs Zeke for a one yard loss.. only Zeke didn't get the memo and powers through him then the LB meets Zeke after a 2 yard gain.. he also gets shrugged off.. Finally the box safety makes the tackle for a 5 yard gain..

So far two carries.. hit in the backfield on both.. TFL on neither..

Carry 3 - best blocked play so far line at least gets a stalemate across the board.. #97 reaches out and grabs Zeke's left shoulder right at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through the arm tackle.. #22 and #58 meet Zeke about 2 yards downfield.. Zeke drags both of them for 3 yards before #54 joins in and they finally get him down after a gain of 6.

Carry 4 - Draw play on 3rd and 4.. #91 and #97 pinch down on the middle run, Zeke squirts through but ends up about a foot short of the first down..

Carry 5 - 2nd and 1 - Zeke takes the handoff and starts left but Shultz loses inside leverage to #58 who closes down the hole where the play looks to have meant to go. Also #37 blitzes off the corner so Zeke has to cut it back to the right where Cooper is tied up with his man. #37 gets Zeke around the legs two yards deep in the backfield but Zeke still gets 2 yards and the first down.

Carry 6 - First and goal at the 9.. play starts right but it's a stalemate up front. Zeke jumpcuts back left.. creating a nice lane for himself.. He is not touched until #22 hits him at the 5 and he falls forward to the 3 ... but it had nothing to do with blocking..

Carry 7 - 2nd and goal at the 3.. Run up the gut.. #75 beats Williams inside and blows the play up.. he has Zeke dead to rights for a one yard loss.. But Zeke powers through him and plows ahead until #37 grabs him around the ankles at the 2 yard line as he is backing towards the goal line. He lunges backwards for the touchdown.. only the idiot refs don't see it and for whatever reason we don't challenge it..

Carry 8 - sweep left.. met by the pursuit after 2 yards.. Zeke spun away from two and dragged the other two another three yards.. Zeke for 5..

Carry 9 - Looks like run off tackle right.. The NT beats Looney and has Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. Again he is left standing there holding air as Zeke shakes him off.. #46 fills and has a shot at Zeke for a 2 yard loss.. He also gets overpowered and Zeke plows ahead where #58 is waiting at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through him as well.. finally #93 and #59 bring him down for a gain of 4.

Carry 10 - First and goal at the 4.. middle run.. not much there.. line got stonewalled.. move the pile for 2.

Carry 11 - 3rd and goal at the 2.. play gets blown up by three eagles for a loss of one..

Carry 12 - well blocked run off tackle right. Zeke is not touched until #37 grabs him 7 yards downfield.. It was an arm tackle up high so Zeke runs right through it. This one looks like there might have been some meat left on the bone if Zeke presses the attack to the corner but his instincts to get north-south betrayed him there.. I t hink #37 was on a bad angle and if he hit the accelerator there he goes at least another 20 yards. Instead he pauses just enough to cut inside #37 which allows the pursuit to catch him from behind.. Still a nice 14 yard run but could have been 30..

Carry 13 - First and 10 Now we can see the o-line is starting to win.. At the snap they move the line of scrimmage three yards. Zeke runs right up the middle and is not touched until 6 yards.. falls forward for 3 more..

Carry 14 - 2nd and 1 short yardage defense .. everybody got blocked but #37.. who makes a TD saving tackle but Zeke gets 4 and a first down..

Carry 15 - First and 10 after Brown's INT.. Off tackle run right is blown up by #55 who pushes Steele into the backfield.. The penetration forces Zeke back inside where lots of green jerseys are waiting.. gain of 2.

Carry 16 -2nd and 8 - Middle run, #55 crashes down this time and grabs Zeke's legs right at the line of scrimmage.. Fall forward or 4.

Carry 17 - First and 10 after Hurts' fumble. Off tackle left.. Good kickouts by Knight and Schultz.. Zeke just has to beat #93 who is coming hard from the inside.. He gets ahold of Zeke's shirt at about two yards but that aint nearly enough and it doesn't even slow Zeke down. Zeke isn't touched again until #37 grabs him up high at about 12 yards.. He gets shaken off too and Zeke ends up tacking on 19 more before the pursuit gets there.

Carry 18 - First and 10 .. Eagles know we're trying to run out the clock and send everybody on the run blitz.. Too many guys for Zeke to beat.. He is met by three guys for a 2 yard loss.. battles his way back to the line of scrimmage..

Carry 19 - 2nd and 10.. off tackle right.. First contact at 3 yards, fall forward for 2 more.. Running in cover up mode at this point..

By my count that's what 3? plays where Zeke is not hit before he was 4 yards downfield. And one of those was because of a great cutback by him because the line had lost.

I had him hit in the backfield on 8 of 19 carries but only caught for a loss on two of them. I know the Zeke haters won't like having this illuminated to this degree.. but that's their problem not mine..

 

[tyke1doe]

I didn't know he was that close. Hope he runs for 200 yards.

 

[Thomas82]

The offensive line is hurt though. You get Tyron, Collins and Zack Martin back that's a whole different line.

True, but it's about time to start looking for our next left tackle since we don't know how much more football Tyron still has in him. He hasn't played a 16-game season since 2015. Also, I believe we need to solidify our LG spot because Connor Williams is not the answer.

 

[Thomas82]

I didn't know he was that close. Hope he runs for 200 yards.

That makes 2 of us!! He's LONG overdue for his first career 200-yard game.

 

[Thomas82]

What announcers said this? They were clearly watching a different game than I did..

I went through his carries for confirmation of what you have stated here..

Carry 1 - #75 beats Knight on an inside move and has Zeke for a 5 yard loss at the handoff.. Zeke shrugs him off, then dodges #54 who should have had Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. then finally #23 trips Zeke up for a 2 yard gain..

Carry 2 - The entire left side is pushed back two yards at the snap.. Unfortunately for us, we were running behind them.. The DT (looks like #78) grabs Zeke for a one yard loss.. only Zeke didn't get the memo and powers through him then the LB meets Zeke after a 2 yard gain.. he also gets shrugged off.. Finally the box safety makes the tackle for a 5 yard gain..

So far two carries.. hit in the backfield on both.. TFL on neither..

Carry 3 - best blocked play so far line at least gets a stalemate across the board.. #97 reaches out and grabs Zeke's left shoulder right at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through the arm tackle.. #22 and #58 meet Zeke about 2 yards downfield.. Zeke drags both of them for 3 yards before #54 joins in and they finally get him down after a gain of 6.

Carry 4 - Draw play on 3rd and 4.. #91 and #97 pinch down on the middle run, Zeke squirts through but ends up about a foot short of the first down..

Carry 5 - 2nd and 1 - Zeke takes the handoff and starts left but Shultz loses inside leverage to #58 who closes down the hole where the play looks to have meant to go. Also #37 blitzes off the corner so Zeke has to cut it back to the right where Cooper is tied up with his man. #37 gets Zeke around the legs two yards deep in the backfield but Zeke still gets 2 yards and the first down.

Carry 6 - First and goal at the 9.. play starts right but it's a stalemate up front. Zeke jumpcuts back left.. creating a nice lane for himself.. He is not touched until #22 hits him at the 5 and he falls forward to the 3 ... but it had nothing to do with blocking..

Carry 7 - 2nd and goal at the 3.. Run up the gut.. #75 beats Williams inside and blows the play up.. he has Zeke dead to rights for a one yard loss.. But Zeke powers through him and plows ahead until #37 grabs him around the ankles at the 2 yard line as he is backing towards the goal line. He lunges backwards for the touchdown.. only the idiot refs don't see it and for whatever reason we don't challenge it..

Carry 8 - sweep left.. met by the pursuit after 2 yards.. Zeke spun away from two and dragged the other two another three yards.. Zeke for 5..

Carry 9 - Looks like run off tackle right.. The NT beats Looney and has Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. Again he is left standing there holding air as Zeke shakes him off.. #46 fills and has a shot at Zeke for a 2 yard loss.. He also gets overpowered and Zeke plows ahead where #58 is waiting at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through him as well.. finally #93 and #59 bring him down for a gain of 4.

Carry 10 - First and goal at the 4.. middle run.. not much there.. line got stonewalled.. move the pile for 2.

Carry 11 - 3rd and goal at the 2.. play gets blown up by three eagles for a loss of one..

Carry 12 - well blocked run off tackle right. Zeke is not touched until #37 grabs him 7 yards downfield.. It was an arm tackle up high so Zeke runs right through it. This one looks like there might have been some meat left on the bone if Zeke presses the attack to the corner but his instincts to get north-south betrayed him there.. I t hink #37 was on a bad angle and if he hit the accelerator there he goes at least another 20 yards. Instead he pauses just enough to cut inside #37 which allows the pursuit to catch him from behind.. Still a nice 14 yard run but could have been 30..

Carry 13 - First and 10 Now we can see the o-line is starting to win.. At the snap they move the line of scrimmage three yards. Zeke runs right up the middle and is not touched until 6 yards.. falls forward for 3 more..

Carry 14 - 2nd and 1 short yardage defense .. everybody got blocked but #37.. who makes a TD saving tackle but Zeke gets 4 and a first down..

Carry 15 - First and 10 after Brown's INT.. Off tackle run right is blown up by #55 who pushes Steele into the backfield.. The penetration forces Zeke back inside where lots of green jerseys are waiting.. gain of 2.

Carry 16 -2nd and 8 - Middle run, #55 crashes down this time and grabs Zeke's legs right at the line of scrimmage.. Fall forward or 4.

Carry 17 - First and 10 after Hurts' fumble. Off tackle left.. Good kickouts by Knight and Schultz.. Zeke just has to beat #93 who is coming hard from the inside.. He gets ahold of Zeke's shirt at about two yards but that aint nearly enough and it doesn't even slow Zeke down. Zeke isn't touched again until #37 grabs him up high at about 12 yards.. He gets shaken off too and Zeke ends up tacking on 19 more before the pursuit gets there.

Carry 18 - First and 10 .. Eagles know we're trying to run out the clock and send everybody on the run blitz.. Too many guys for Zeke to beat.. He is met by three guys for a 2 yard loss.. battles his way back to the line of scrimmage..

Carry 19 - 2nd and 10.. off tackle right.. First contact at 3 yards, fall forward for 2 more.. Running in cover up mode at this point..

By my count that's what 3? plays where Zeke is not hit before he was 4 yards downfield. And one of those was because of a great cutback by him because the line had lost.

I had him hit in the backfield on 8 of 19 carries but only caught for a loss on two of them. I know the Zeke haters won't like having this illuminated to this degree.. but that's their problem not mine..

Excellent breakdown!!

 

[Cebrin]

He'd probably have it already save 7 Fumbles

 

[noshame]

Wow 1000 yards?
A bargain at 20 mil

 

[Starforever]

What do people complain about with Zeke? He lacks big play making ability. He's a grinder, racking up yardage with more carries because he doesn't get them in chunks. People also complain he is used wrong and we just run him up the middle. Efficiency matters. Getting a bunch of carries at a low YPC isn't good. It's not that difficult to understand unless you are just hell bent on defending a player for sake of defending a player. I don't care how many yards he has, he needs to be more efficient with the attempts he gets. If he does that, it is better for the team. When he doesn't do that, it is worse for the team. You seem to think it doesn't matter. Plus, the more carries he gets to gain the yardage, the more wear and tear it does to his body and decreases the amount of time he can be of value to the team.

Now, let's compare. Zeke has 1399 carriers for 6,342 yards since 2016. Henry, who Zeke is most often compared to, has 1148 carries for 5,610 carries. So Zeke has carried the ball 251 more times and gained 732 more yards during that time span. If Henry would have had 251 more carries to tie Zeke, he would have only needed to average of 2.9 ypc in order to equal his total yards. I bet Titans fans wouldn't want to see hundreds to inefficient runs just so Henry can have more rushing yards. Now, if Henry averaged 4.9 ypc like his current career average is and he rushed the ball 251 more times, then he would have more yardage than Zeke. Efficiency matters. We need Zeke to produce more yards per touch. Not sure why this is even an argument. It's like people argue against others who want improvement from the team. Mind boggling.

You dont want improvement, you want perfection. The ifs you quoted concerning Henry, are just that ifs. Two different philosophies, go into each teams game planning. Henry and Zeke, are two different backs. They play against different opponents. They have different styles. They are built different. They are different sizes. They have different mentalities. I can continue with facts, while you state ifs.

 

[aria]

What announcers said this? They were clearly watching a different game than I did..

I went through his carries for confirmation of what you have stated here..

Carry 1 - #75 beats Knight on an inside move and has Zeke for a 5 yard loss at the handoff.. Zeke shrugs him off, then dodges #54 who should have had Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. then finally #23 trips Zeke up for a 2 yard gain..

Carry 2 - The entire left side is pushed back two yards at the snap.. Unfortunately for us, we were running behind them.. The DT (looks like #78) grabs Zeke for a one yard loss.. only Zeke didn't get the memo and powers through him then the LB meets Zeke after a 2 yard gain.. he also gets shrugged off.. Finally the box safety makes the tackle for a 5 yard gain..

So far two carries.. hit in the backfield on both.. TFL on neither..

Carry 3 - best blocked play so far line at least gets a stalemate across the board.. #97 reaches out and grabs Zeke's left shoulder right at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through the arm tackle.. #22 and #58 meet Zeke about 2 yards downfield.. Zeke drags both of them for 3 yards before #54 joins in and they finally get him down after a gain of 6.

Carry 4 - Draw play on 3rd and 4.. #91 and #97 pinch down on the middle run, Zeke squirts through but ends up about a foot short of the first down..

Carry 5 - 2nd and 1 - Zeke takes the handoff and starts left but Shultz loses inside leverage to #58 who closes down the hole where the play looks to have meant to go. Also #37 blitzes off the corner so Zeke has to cut it back to the right where Cooper is tied up with his man. #37 gets Zeke around the legs two yards deep in the backfield but Zeke still gets 2 yards and the first down.

Carry 6 - First and goal at the 9.. play starts right but it's a stalemate up front. Zeke jumpcuts back left.. creating a nice lane for himself.. He is not touched until #22 hits him at the 5 and he falls forward to the 3 ... but it had nothing to do with blocking..

Carry 7 - 2nd and goal at the 3.. Run up the gut.. #75 beats Williams inside and blows the play up.. he has Zeke dead to rights for a one yard loss.. But Zeke powers through him and plows ahead until #37 grabs him around the ankles at the 2 yard line as he is backing towards the goal line. He lunges backwards for the touchdown.. only the idiot refs don't see it and for whatever reason we don't challenge it..

Carry 8 - sweep left.. met by the pursuit after 2 yards.. Zeke spun away from two and dragged the other two another three yards.. Zeke for 5..

Carry 9 - Looks like run off tackle right.. The NT beats Looney and has Zeke for a 4 yard loss.. Again he is left standing there holding air as Zeke shakes him off.. #46 fills and has a shot at Zeke for a 2 yard loss.. He also gets overpowered and Zeke plows ahead where #58 is waiting at the line of scrimmage.. Zeke runs through him as well.. finally #93 and #59 bring him down for a gain of 4.

Carry 10 - First and goal at the 4.. middle run.. not much there.. line got stonewalled.. move the pile for 2.

Carry 11 - 3rd and goal at the 2.. play gets blown up by three eagles for a loss of one..

Carry 12 - well blocked run off tackle right. Zeke is not touched until #37 grabs him 7 yards downfield.. It was an arm tackle up high so Zeke runs right through it. This one looks like there might have been some meat left on the bone if Zeke presses the attack to the corner but his instincts to get north-south betrayed him there.. I t hink #37 was on a bad angle and if he hit the accelerator there he goes at least another 20 yards. Instead he pauses just enough to cut inside #37 which allows the pursuit to catch him from behind.. Still a nice 14 yard run but could have been 30..

Carry 13 - First and 10 Now we can see the o-line is starting to win.. At the snap they move the line of scrimmage three yards. Zeke runs right up the middle and is not touched until 6 yards.. falls forward for 3 more..

Carry 14 - 2nd and 1 short yardage defense .. everybody got blocked but #37.. who makes a TD saving tackle but Zeke gets 4 and a first down..

Carry 15 - First and 10 after Brown's INT.. Off tackle run right is blown up by #55 who pushes Steele into the backfield.. The penetration forces Zeke back inside where lots of green jerseys are waiting.. gain of 2.

Carry 16 -2nd and 8 - Middle run, #55 crashes down this time and grabs Zeke's legs right at the line of scrimmage.. Fall forward or 4.

Carry 17 - First and 10 after Hurts' fumble. Off tackle left.. Good kickouts by Knight and Schultz.. Zeke just has to beat #93 who is coming hard from the inside.. He gets ahold of Zeke's shirt at about two yards but that aint nearly enough and it doesn't even slow Zeke down. Zeke isn't touched again until #37 grabs him up high at about 12 yards.. He gets shaken off too and Zeke ends up tacking on 19 more before the pursuit gets there.

Carry 18 - First and 10 .. Eagles know we're trying to run out the clock and send everybody on the run blitz.. Too many guys for Zeke to beat.. He is met by three guys for a 2 yard loss.. battles his way back to the line of scrimmage..

Carry 19 - 2nd and 10.. off tackle right.. First contact at 3 yards, fall forward for 2 more.. Running in cover up mode at this point..

By my count that's what 3? plays where Zeke is not hit before he was 4 yards downfield. And one of those was because of a great cutback by him because the line had lost.

I had him hit in the backfield on 8 of 19 carries but only caught for a loss on two of them. I know the Zeke haters won't like having this illuminated to this degree.. but that's their problem not mine..

Nice breakdown, I’d have to watch it for myself again but for once I’ll take your word for it. The announcers said it in the second half, 3rd quarter I believe.

What I don’t get is you say you’re not seeing it but mention slightly less than half the plays where he has open lanes or one guy to beat. So again, he created few plays on his own because most of the other ones you mention he loses yards or gains minimal yards.

 

[atlantacowboy]

4.1 YPC and he hasn't scored a TD in almost 2 months. Give me a DMAC for 1/10 the cost.

 

[Vintage]

L337sauce

 

[Aviano90]

You dont want improvement, you want perfection. The ifs you quoted concerning Henry, are just that ifs. Two different philosophies, go into each teams game planning. Henry and Zeke, are two different backs. They play against different opponents. They have different styles. They are built different. They are different sizes. They have different mentalities. I can continue with facts, while you state ifs.

You mean you can continue to come up with excuses. I can too if I had low expectations and just wanted to defend a player.

 

[RonnieT24]

Nice breakdown, I’d have to watch it for myself again but for once I’ll take your word for it. The announcers said it in the second half, 3rd quarter I believe.

What I don’t get is you say you’re not seeing it but mention slightly less than half the plays where he has open lanes or one guy to beat. So again, he created few plays on his own because most of the other ones you mention he loses yards or gains minimal yards.

I like watching running backs do their thing. Zeke and Pollard play for my team so I like watching them most of all. The DVR makes it pretty easy to FF to the plays you wanna watch. Then pause so you can see what the defense was in, which guys got blown up and which guys moved their man out of the way. When I watched it again last night I saw again why I don't believe anybody who tells me this line is top 10 in any league. Zeke was hit in the backfield on 8 of 19 carries.. Pollard was hit in the backfield on 5 of 9. If allowing at least one guy into the backfield on 13 of 28 run plays, almost half, is top 10 in the league then offensive linemen around the league are being paid too much money because they all suck if this is true.

I mentioned 8 plays where Zeke WAS HIT IN THE BACKFIELD.. The only times he DIDN'T get back to the line of scrimmage was when there was more than one defender there. He consistently beat the first guy and generally dragged the second guy for positive yards. There were others where there was contact at or just beyond the line of scrimmage including the 31 yarder. There were I believe 3 where there was a nice hole created by the blocking.. I only had him missing a read for a bigger play once on those three.. Perhaps he was so unaccustomed to it he didn't know what to do with all that green grass in front of him. Who knows but that play should have gone for at least 15 more yards but it would have required him to continue to bend it outside and that's just not who he is.. He's a north-south runner.. and I will guarantee you 100 out of 100 coaches will tell you that they much prefer a solid north-south runner over a guy who runs sideways a lot.

Edit.. the reason I said Zeke "balled out" was not as much about his totals.. which were nice.. but just how hard he ran. I came away from watching the game feeling like he had broken 4-5 tackles. Watching again last night I realize I was wrong.. He broke more like 14-15. His performance was even more impressive on second watch because He literally could have been stopped for at least 25 yards in losses in this game.. yet only lost a total of 3 yards.. The line was terrible.. ask Tony (1.3) Pollard. They did okay pass blocking but they got whupped in the run game. Zeke saved their bacon.. It would be interesting to know how PFF "graded them" this week.

 

[aria]

I like watching running backs do their thing. Zeke and Pollard play for my team so I like watching them most of all. The DVR makes it pretty easy to FF to the plays you wanna watch. Then pause so you can see what the defense was in, which guys got blown up and which guys moved their man out of the way. When I watched it again last night I saw again why I don't believe anybody who tells me this line is top 10 in any league. Zeke was hit in the backfield on 8 of 19 carries.. Pollard was hit in the backfield on 5 of 9. If allowing at least one guy into the backfield on 13 of 28 run plays, almost half, is top 10 in the league then offensive linemen around the league are being paid too much money because they all suck if this is true.

I mentioned 8 plays where Zeke WAS HIT IN THE BACKFIELD.. The only times he DIDN'T get back to the line of scrimmage was when there was more than one defender there. He consistently beat the first guy and generally dragged the second guy for positive yards. There were others where there was contact at or just beyond the line of scrimmage including the 31 yarder. There were I believe 3 where there was a nice hole created by the blocking.. I only had him missing a read for a bigger play once on those three.. Perhaps he was so unaccustomed to it he didn't know what to do with all that green grass in front of him. Who knows but that play should have gone for at least 15 more yards but it would have required him to continue to bend it outside and that's just not who he is.. He's a north-south runner.. and I will guarantee you 100 out of 100 coaches will tell you that they much prefer a solid north-south runner over a guy who runs sideways a lot.

Edit.. the reason I said Zeke "balled out" was not as much about his totals.. which were nice.. but just how hard he ran. I came away from watching the game feeling like he had broken 4-5 tackles. Watching again last night I realize I was wrong.. He broke more like 14-15. His performance was even more impressive on second watch because He literally could have been stopped for at least 25 yards in losses in this game.. yet only lost a total of 3 yards.. The line was terrible.. ask Tony (1.3) Pollard. They did okay pass blocking but they got whupped in the run game. Zeke saved their bacon.. It would be interesting to know how PFF "graded them" this week.

Well I honestly appreciate your breakdown, very informative, but I still look at his overall season and it’s been average at best to below average. I also think most of the plays he made, most starting RB’s would have made similar plays give or take a yard.

Anyways, again, appreciate your analysis and we’ve argued my thoughts of him overall to death. I’m waiting on you to respond to my Hitchins post

 

[Starforever]

You mean you can continue to come up with excuses. I can too if I had low expectations and just wanted to defend a player.

An excuse would be, the banged up offensive line. Not enough carries. Broken fingernail etc. What I gave you were facts, you and others like you live in the land of heightened hyperbole. Every year, I expect the Dallas Cowboys to compete for the championship. That is the goal of every team in the NFL.

 

[RonnieT24]

Well I honestly appreciate your breakdown, very informative, but I still look at his overall season and it’s been average at best to below average. I also think most of the plays he made, most starting RB’s would have made similar plays give or take a yard.

Anyways, again, appreciate your analysis and we’ve argued my thoughts of him overall to death. I’m waiting on you to respond to my Hitchins post

The one where you said you don't see this?

 

[Aviano90]

An excuse would be, the banged up offensive line. Not enough carries. Broken fingernail etc. What I gave you were facts, you and others like you live in the land of heightened hyperbole. Every year, I expect the Dallas Cowboys to compete for the championship. That is the goal of every team in the NFL.

The "facts" you give essentially means that no players can be compared ever. It's just a lazy way to try and shut up conversation you don't like.