Runs on 1st & 10 (2014 v 2015)

[BAT]

So somebody takes his place. It's not like the names matter. That's kinda the point.

But names do matter. That is exactly the point. You can't just plug in anyone and produce the same numbers.

 

[big dog cowboy]

How many 1,000 yard rushers are left in the final 5 teams (Den & Pitt are still playing as I post this)?

If the Cowboys spend a 1st round pick on running back I'll snap.

Welcome to the party pal!

 

[big dog cowboy]

Oline was a shell of itself last year in run blocking.

Average gain:

2014 3.9
2015 4.4

Am I missing something?

 

[StarBoyz83]

Am I missing something?

No. They got better as the year went on but they didn't start very good.

 

[CATCH17]

It is statistical mumbo jumbo.

Take a good look at how McFadden played this year. Ignore the yards.

Watch the plays. Go back and watch the plays.

Don't play with numbers. Go back and watch the plays with a sound mind.

People were whining about "meat on the bone" with Murray.

McFadden left the whole cow, pig, chicken, lamb, whatever your flesh of choice is.

Really? I didn't see a lot of space for him to run in.

The defense pretty much knew when and where we were running because Garrett let that happen.

Under horrible circumstances I thought McFadden did well.

 

[Alexander]

How many 1,000 yard rushers are left in the final 5 teams (Den & Pitt are still playing as I post this)?

None.

Maybe it's the running game and not the running back?

Hmm.

If the Cowboys spend a 1st round pick on running back I'll snap.

Nice massage, but you could easily argue that both Carolina (Jonathan Stewart - 989 active for 13 games) and Arizona (Chris Johnson - 814 active for 11 games) would have both eclipsed 1000 yards had they played a full complement of games. And we all know Bell from Pittsburgh would have hit 1000 if he remained healthy.

Say that reminds me, Michael. How may first round CBs are left in the final 4? Two. Peterson and Talib, only Peterson begin drafted by his team. The rest are a 3rd rounder (Powers, a FA), a CFA (Chris Harris), a 5th rounder (Norman), a 7th rounder (Finnegan, a FA).

If the Cowboys spend another 1st round pick on a CB I'll snap.

 

[Alexander]

Really? I didn't see a lot of space for him to run in.

The defense pretty much knew when and where we were running because Garrett let that happen.

Under horrible circumstances I thought McFadden did well.

He did okay. But he went down on contact too easily and how many times did he not cash in with TDs?

He is not a back that you can count on. He's earned the right to return and split carries. But to simply say, he's fine and we can just roll with him and Dunbar, that is just short-sighted and begging to have it blow up in our faces.

To be clear, I am not campaigning for a first round RB, especially in the top five. But if the idea is to get cute and just figure one can be found anywhere along the way, we end up just like we did last year, shut out.

 

[Oh_Canada]

I have a hard time with the idea of defenses seeing 2nd and short as a time to focus on the run -- against anybody, much less against our 2014 passing game. That will get you killed. On 2nd down and 1-2 to go, we actually passed more than we ran in 2014. We ran more in 2015, which is telling. Despite being in many more 2nd-and-short situations in 2014, we only ran 19 times, as opposed to 17 times in 2015. This is a non-factor.

Thank you-guess it was a tremendously small sample size.
Either way, any theory that Dallas lost twelve games solely because of the departure of Demarco Murray is ridiculous.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Nice massage, but you could easily argue that both Carolina (Jonathan Stewart - 989 active for 13 games) and Arizona (Chris Johnson - 814 active for 11 games) would have both eclipsed 1000 yards had they played a full complement of games. And we all know Bell from Pittsburgh would have hit 1000 if he remained healthy.

Say that reminds me, Michael. How may first round CBs are left in the final 4? Two. Peterson and Talib, only Peterson begin drafted by his team. The rest are a 3rd rounder (Powers, a FA), a CFA (Chris Harris), a 5th rounder (Norman), a 7th rounder (Finnegan, a FA).

If the Cowboys spend another 1st round pick on a CB I'll snap.

I agree, you could have seen that happening.

But still you watch Arizona or Carolina play and you see what's driving those offenses.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Thank you-guess it was a tremendously small sample size.
Either way, any theory that Dallas lost twelve games solely because of the departure of Demarco Murray is ridiculous.

Of course it's ridiculous.

And those that continually ride that horse totally ignore the historical trends of what happens to a back the following season after seeing such a large amount of work. They also ignore that Murray ended up 3rd on the depth charts for the team he was playing for this year. They'll mouth the words about "Philly's system wasn't right for him" and totally ignore that maybe, just maybe last season fried this season for him and maybe the rest of his career.

And if that isn't negative enough you have the ridiculous contract Philly offered him– $8+ million per year... give me a break... if Dallas signed him for even $6 mil a year he would have been ridiculously overpaid.

 

[Sydla]

It's hilarious to see people complain when someone suggests only using a 3rd or 4th rounder on a TB............ when the guy they are *****ing that we didn't replace properly was a 3rd round pick himself.

 

[percyhoward]

Thank you-guess it was a tremendously small sample size.
Either way, any theory that Dallas lost twelve games solely because of the departure of Demarco Murray is ridiculous.

We averaged as many yards per carry, had fewer stuffs per carry, more first downs per carry, basically identical TOP, and only dropped off slightly on short-yardage and goal-line runs. All with a pass offense that dropped from 1st to 31st, and scared no one.

Seattle, Minnesota, and Dallas were the only teams that ranked in the top 10 in YPC, 1st down% by run, and TOP in 2015. We have to give credit to this OL.

Yards per Carry (excludes QB kneels)
1 Buf
2 TB
3 KC
4 Min
5 Sea
6 Pit
7 Dal
8 StL
9 Ari
10 Car

First Down %
1 KC
2 Car
3 Sea
4 NO
5 Phi
6 Pit
7 Buf
8 Min
9 Dal
10 NE

Time of Average Possession
1 Atl
2 Sea
3 Dal
4 Min
5 SD
6 Was
7 Ari
8 Cin
9 NO
10 Chi

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We averaged as many yards per carry, had fewer stuffs per carry, more first downs per carry, basically identical TOP, and only dropped off slightly on short-yardage and goal-line runs. All with a pass offense that dropped from 1st to 31st, and scared no one.

Seattle, Minnesota, and Dallas were the only teams that ranked in the top 10 in YPC, 1st down% by run, and TOP in 2015. We have to give credit to this OL.

Yards per Carry (excludes QB kneels)
1 Buf
2 TB
3 KC
4 Min
5 Sea
6 Pit
7 Dal
8 StL
9 Ari
10 Car

First Down %
1 KC
2 Car
3 Sea
4 NO
5 Phi
6 Pit
7 Buf
8 Min
9 Dal
10 NE

Time of Average Possession
1 Atl
2 Sea
3 Dal
4 Min
5 SD
6 Was
7 Ari
8 Cin
9 NO
10 Chi

Nice analysis.

Then you get the folks that pipe in with the "Murray had 1,800 yards and McFadden only had 1,000", well if McFadden had the same usage the first 5 games of the season he had over the last 11 he would have had over 1,400 yards himself... and that's without the benefit of the team having very few chances to "run out the clock" in trash-time of a game. This offense had 100 fewer rushing attempts in '15 than they did in '15.

 

[TheCount]

Nice massage, but you could easily argue that both Carolina (Jonathan Stewart - 989 active for 13 games) and Arizona (Chris Johnson - 814 active for 11 games) would have both eclipsed 1000 yards had they played a full complement of games. And we all know Bell from Pittsburgh would have hit 1000 if he remained healthy.

Say that reminds me, Michael. How may first round CBs are left in the final 4? Two. Peterson and Talib, only Peterson begin drafted by his team. The rest are a 3rd rounder (Powers, a FA), a CFA (Chris Harris), a 5th rounder (Norman), a 7th rounder (Finnegan, a FA).

If the Cowboys spend another 1st round pick on a CB I'll snap.

Very interesting points.

I think that while this may be true for CB, it's important to note that a lot of the teams in the playoffs do have safties that were taken in the first 3 rounds.

 

[percyhoward]

This offense had 100 fewer rushing attempts in '15 than they did in '14.

Against defenses that were playing the run.