Can Dallas win a Super Bowl with RB By Committee?

[speedkilz88]

(Originally posted by ekitchin):

*****​

Here is a look back at the primary running games of the last ten Super Bowl champions:


Attempts Yards
05 Pittsburgh:
Willie Green 255 1022
Jerome Bettis 110 368
Verron Hayes 74 274


2006 Indy:
Joseph Addai 226 1081
Dominic Rhodes 187 641


2007 NYG:
Brandon Jacobs 202 1009
Derrick Ward 125 602
Reuben Droughns 85 275


2008 Pittsburgh:
Willie Parker 210 791
Mewelde Moore 140 588


2009 New Orleans:
Mike Bell 172 654
Pierre Thomas 147 793
Reggie Bush 70 390


2010 GB:
Brandon Jackson 190 703
John Kuhn 84 281
Aaron Rodgers 64 356


2011 NYG:
Ahmad Bradshaw 171 659
Brandon Jacobs 152 571
Danny Ware 46 163


2012 Baltimore:
Ray Rice 257 1143
Bernard Pierce 108 532


2013 Seattle:
Marshawn Lynch 301 1257
Russell Wilson 96 539
Robert Turbin 77 264


2014 NE:
Shane Vereen 96 391
Stevan Ridley 94 340
Jonas Gray 89 412
Lagarrett Blount 60 281


Most are pointing to questions about the run game as the greatest worry about this team. In my opinion Dallas has a superior offensive line to any of the past ten champs and our current backs are comparable to most of them from a talent perspective. Unless a great deal drops in our lap (AP), I'm content to let this play out in order to see what we have on the roster, we can always make moves later if needed and still get it done.

 

[KJJ]

Several of those teams were known for defense so controlling the ball wasn't as vital for them as it is for a team like the Cowboys who've had defensive issues.

 

[Jenky]

(Originally posted by ekitchin):

*****​

Here is a look back at the primary running games of the last ten Super Bowl champions:


Attempts Yards
05 Pittsburgh:
Willie Green 255 1022
Jerome Bettis 110 368
Verron Hayes 74 274


2006 Indy:
Joseph Addai 226 1081
Dominic Rhodes 187 641


2007 NYG:
Brandon Jacobs 202 1009
Derrick Ward 125 602
Reuben Droughns 85 275


2008 Pittsburgh:
Willie Parker 210 791
Mewelde Moore 140 588


2009 New Orleans:
Mike Bell 172 654
Pierre Thomas 147 793
Reggie Bush 70 390


2010 GB:
Brandon Jackson 190 703
John Kuhn 84 281
Aaron Rodgers 64 356


2011 NYG:
Ahmad Bradshaw 171 659
Brandon Jacobs 152 571
Danny Ware 46 163


2012 Baltimore:
Ray Rice 257 1143
Bernard Pierce 108 532


2013 Seattle:
Marshawn Lynch 301 1257
Russell Wilson 96 539
Robert Turbin 77 264


2014 NE:
Shane Vereen 96 391
Stevan Ridley 94 340
Jonas Gray 89 412
Lagarrett Blount 60 281


Most are pointing to questions about the run game as the greatest worry about this team. In my opinion Dallas has a superior offensive line to any of the past ten champs and our current backs are comparable to most of them from a talent perspective. Unless a great deal drops in our lap (AP), I'm content to let this play out in order to see what we have on the roster, we can always make moves later if needed and still get it done.

Of all those teams, I can only remember Indy having a bad defense. But they were also a different team when Bob Sanders played.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/sto...-defense-wins-championships-49ers-stats-picks

2014 Patriots

Total 10.9, Offense: 7.5, Defense: 3.5, SoS: 1.3, avg is 0.0.

2013 Seahawks

Total 13.0, Offense: 4.1, Defense: 8.9, SoS: 1.4, avg is 0.0.

2012 Ravens

Total 2.9, Offense: 1.9, Defense: 1.0, SoS: -0.5, avg is 0.0.

2011 Giants

Offense: 13.0. Defense: 15.6. Total: 14.3

2010 Packers

Offense: 11.0. Defense: 8.8. Total: 9.9

2009 Saints

Offense: 8.0. Defense: 13.2. Total: 10.6

2008 Steelers

Offense: 18.8. Defense: 4.8. Total: 11.8

2007 Giants

Offense: 16.4 Defense: 14.8. Total: 15.6.

2006 Colts

Offense: 5.0. Defense: 21.9. Total: 15.6.

2005 Steelers

Offense: 10.2. Defense: 8.0. Total: 9.1.

2004 Patriots

Offense: 10.0. Defense: 5.9. Total: 8.0.

2003 Patriots

Offense: 14.8. Defense: 6.2. Total: 10.5.

 

[JDSmith]

Several of those teams were known for defense so controlling the ball wasn't as vital for them as it is for a team like the Cowboys who've had defensive issues.

I like to think that with our additions on the defensive side of the ball, combined with the fact that Marinelli has had another year to fine tune our guys in his system, we're going to field a much better unit than we did last year. With the return of Lee along with the addition of Hardy and the continued development of Lawrence I think we're in a much better place, at least on paper, than we were last year going into the season. If we could field an average D with the players we had then, and in Marinelli's first year after taking over from Kiffin, I'd expect us to be at least a top 10 unit this year. And I think we could potentially vie for the top defense in the league - particularly in terms of turnovers.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

What's amazing to me is how short a career many of those backs listed actually had.

 

[KJJ]

I like to think that with our additions on the defensive side of the ball, combined with the fact that Marinelli has had another year to fine tune our guys in his system, we're going to field a much better unit than we did last year. With the return of Lee along with the addition of Hardy and the continued development of Lawrence I think we're in a much better place, at least on paper, than we were last year going into the season. If we could field an average D with the players we had then, and in Marinelli's first year after taking over from Kiffin, I'd expect us to be at least a top 10 unit this year. And I think we could potentially vie for the top defense in the league - particularly in terms of turnovers.

Every year everyone gets excited about the return of Lee but it's hard to count on him with his injury history. The Cowboys added Hardy but as of right now they'll only have him for 6 games so they'll have to count on young developing players to provide a pass rush. I like the additions the Cowboys made to the defense and on paper it looks better but the D still has to prove itself on the field. A big part of why the defense showed some improvement last season was averaging 12 fewer plays each week than in 2013 due to the Cowboys second ranked rushing attack. If the Cowboys can't run the ball as consistently and efficiently as we saw last season the defense will spend more time on the field and won't stay as fresh. The Cowboys defense is a long way from vying for the top defense in the league so don't get carried away.

 

[Sportsbabe]

Where people are getting this RB committee fantasy from amazes me. Find me one quote from Garrett or Linehan concerning this. Just because you've got 3 don't mean all 3 will be featured.

 

[blindzebra]

Every year everyone gets excited about the return of Lee but it's hard to count on him with his injury history. The Cowboys added Hardy but as of right now they'll only have him for 6 games so they'll have to count on young developing players to provide a pass rush. I like the additions the Cowboys made to the defense and on paper it looks better but the D still has to prove itself on the field. A big part of why the defense showed some improvement last season was averaging 12 fewer plays each week than in 2013 due to the Cowboys second ranked rushing attack. If the Cowboys can't run the ball as consistently and efficiently as we saw last season the defense will spend more time on the field and won't stay as fresh. The Cowboys defense is a long way from vying for the top defense in the league so don't get carried away.

Let's say we don't run as well but get more big plays from the running game and keep it balanced and score more? In that case would we need more than say a top 15 defense holding their own?

 

[Bowdown27]

I think we can. If our d steps up we can make better decisions on o because of our faulty run game. But I honestly see them doing well with this oline in front of them

 

[JDSmith]

Where people are getting this RB committee fantasy from amazes me. Find me one quote from Garrett or Linehan concerning this. Just because you've got 3 don't mean all 3 will be featured.

While 1 may got a higher percentage, I think most people are assuming none will get a Murray sized share of the carries. Our RB committee had 472 carries last year, but Murray got 83% of them. If our top RB has only 60% of the carries this year that leaves an extra hundred or so carries to spread out to the rest of the guys.

 

[Satchel89]

Where people are getting this RB committee fantasy from amazes me. Find me one quote from Garrett or Linehan concerning this. Just because you've got 3 don't mean all 3 will be featured.

I absolutely agree with you. I could be wrong but I think McFadden wins the job outright and Randle will be his back up. I don't think McFadden carries as much as Murray did and so Randle will get way more carries this year but McFadden is going to be the feature back. I believe Williams is the odd man out and Dunbar makes the team but I don't think he sees the field much.

 

[Idgit]

Any Super Bowl caliber team could. It's a RB we're talking about.

 

[JDSmith]

I absolutely agree with you. I could be wrong but I think McFadden wins the job outright and Randle will be his back up. I don't think McFadden carries as much as Murray did and so Randle will get way more carries this year but McFadden is going to be the feature back. I believe Williams is the odd man out and Dunbar makes the team but I don't think he sees the field much.

So let's say McFadden wins the job outright and gets 100 less carries than Murray did while we maintain the overall number of carries. Give those 100 carries to Randle. That would give us 292 carries for McFadden and 151 for Randle. That's RB by committee. It's not as if you have to give everyone equal carries.

 

[Sportsbabe]

While 1 may got a higher percentage, I think most people are assuming none will get a Murray sized share of the carries. Our RB committee had 472 carries last year, but Murray got 83% of them. If our top RB has only 60% of the carries this year that leaves an extra hundred or so carries to spread out to the rest of the guys.

Wow. That's really giving us something to talk about for the off season. What Murray did last year was extraordinary...old school. This year is this year.

 

[KJJ]

Let's say we don't run as well but get more big plays from the running game and keep it balanced and score more? In that case would we need more than say a top 15 defense holding their own?

If the Cowboys don't run the ball as well (consistently) then I don't see adding more big plays in the running game helping a great deal. It's the playing keep away (time consuming drives) that made the running game so effective last season. Emmitt wasn't breaking off one long run after another during his heyday it was him being consistent that made him and the running game so effective. The Cowboys won the time of possession battle in a number of their games last season which greatly helped the defense. By maintaining the ball it helped wear down the opposition. You can take the will out of a defense by consistently picking up 4, 6 and 12 yards on the ground. The Cowboys don't need a lot of homeruns just a lot of base hits to keep them at bat. In the past the Cowboys have had more big plays in the running game with Julius Jones and to a lesser extent Felix Jones but it's been the consistent 5-8 yard runs that have moved the chains and helped the Cowboys maintain possession.

Go back to the 06 season vs the Saints when Julius Jones broke off a long run and scored. The Cowboys still got blown out due to their defense and not being able run the ball consistently. It's going to come down to the Cowboys defense and the offense picking up the tough yards on the ground especially in critical situations that's going to make or break their season. Murray was very consistent on 3rd and 2's and 3's keeping Romo from having to put the ball up in those situations. If the Cowboys struggle to pick up the tough yards or end up in a lot of long down situations Romo won't be as efficient as last season. I just don't see the Cowboys breaking off a bunch of long TD runs. Sure they'll make some big plays in the running game no question about it but trust me the key to having a successful season will be running the ball "consistently" keeping the chains moving and the defense off the field. That was the recipe for success last season.

 

[JDSmith]

Wow. That's really giving us something to talk about for the off season. What Murray did last year was extraordinary...old school. This year is this year.

Yeah, and as of right now I don't think we have a Murray on the roster. I just can't see McFadden or Randle taking the handoff almost 400 times. And that means we either run by committee or we find someone else.

Then again, last year I didn't envision Murray getting 392 carries.

 

[Sportsbabe]

I absolutely agree with you. I could be wrong but I think McFadden wins the job outright and Randle will be his back up. I don't think McFadden carries as much as Murray did and so Randle will get way more carries this year but McFadden is going to be the feature back. I believe Williams is the odd man out and Dunbar makes the team but I don't think he sees the field much.

Esign. I would love for one of our guys to win it but it will be one guy and a back up. We didn't build this O-line for tiddly winks.

 

[KJJ]

I posted in another thread that the Cowboys have never won a SB with an RB by committee. They won SB's with Duane Thomas, Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith leading the way. I believe if the Cowboys are going to be as good a team as they were last season or have a chance to be even better one of their backs is going to have to step up and be the one the team counts on in critical games/situations and down the stretch. These backs are going to be given a great opportunity and one of them needs to emerge.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Can Dallas win a Super Bowl with RB By Committee?

Absolutely.

 

[JDSmith]

I posted in another thread that the Cowboys have never won a SB with an RB by committee. They won SB's with Duane Thomas, Tony Dorsett and Emmitt Smith leading the way. I believe if the Cowboys are going to be as good a team as they were last season or have a chance to be even better one of their backs is going to have to step up and be the one the team counts on in critical games/situations and down the stretch.

The fact that they've never won a SB with RB by committee doesn't really count for much at this point. They haven't won a SB in this millennium. They've never won a SB when they had a QB who passed for over 3500 yards, does that mean we need to rotate Wheeden in or sit Romo for a few games to keep with our historical record?