It's not how good our backs are...

[PatricktheDookie]

...but rather how well they fit into our new spread offense. When we look at our running backs, it's hard to definitively predict which ones we'll keep and which ones will go. But there's two guys that I think will be sticking around...

Hillis, obviously, is a keeper. He has the ability to fulfill multiple roles, catch passes, block, and be a goal line back. Imagine Chris Cooley, except he gets 5-10 rushing attempts per game. Hillis will be huge for us.

But the other back I'm looking at, surprisingly, is Selvin Young. Yeah, go ahead, laugh it up. But watching Selvin Young the past two seasons, he gives the Broncos a couple of things that we have not had in recent memory.

1) Selvin Young is not a great running back, but he runs the ball well when given open space. Perhaps this can be attributed to playing in the spread offense at Texas, but Selvin Young is our best threat when running draw plays. His acceleration is phenomenal, and he's able to speed away from defensive ends while running past the tackles. And he has a shifty running style and great balance once he gets past the first wave of defenders.

2) Screen passes. Denver has been terrible at performing running back screens throughout the decade. And just because a running back is fast, it doesn't mean that they are necessarily good on screens (I'm looking your way, Tatum Bell). But, for the same reasons that he's good on draws, Young is dangerous on screen passes, and he's shown flashes of it when he's been healthy.

When I think of the Patriots running backs, I think of Kevin Faulk. It seemed like every time he touched the ball, it was on some sort of screen pass or draw. And every game he'd quietly get about 40 yards rushing and 40 receiving on 10-12 touches.

I could be crazy, and a stiff fall breeze could snap Selvin's leg in half, but I really see Young having a significant role in our offense in 2009. (Especially since we can't afford to use high draft picks on anything except defense.)

[DenBronx]

i think alridge will do better in open space then young would ever do. he is faster and can get to the edges a whole lot sooner while making people miss. ive seen enough of young and tatum to make me have stomach ulcers on gameday. if mcdaniels has any brain at all he will draft a rb.

[Northman]

Yea, i dont see Young being kept. Alridge fits that role much better. As for the draft, i think we might still address it in the Draft or Free Agency. Same with Defense.

[CoachChaz]

I stll cant figure out what Bell has done to warrant not keeping him.

[LRtagger]

I'd rather have Tater on the roster than Young. At least Tatum can touch the ball 10-15 times a game without getting injured. Plus he is better in open space than Young is IMO.

Hillis, Tater, Rook, maybe Pittman if he decides to play another year, and Alridge as a PR/KR would be fine by me.

IMO we can afford to spend a 3rd on a RB. Having Young on the roster at this point is like having a 52 1/2 man roster. Does anyone honestly think the guy can touch the ball 10+ times a game and play all 16 games? Sorry, but he's gone...maybe we can get a 7th for him.

[nj10]

Hillis is a beast. If we can actually have one back carry the load (unlikely since it hasn't been done since portis) it's gotta be Hillis. He has Brian Westbrook's skill set with the running power of Mike Alstott.

[CoachChaz]

Hillis is a beast. If we can actually have one back carry the load (unlikely since it hasn't been done since portis) it's gotta be Hillis. He has Brian Westbrook's skill set with the running power of Mike Alstott.

I wouldnt go so far to say he has Westbrook's elusiveness, but he does have a size advantage. That size allows him to run through the things Westbrook runs around. problem there is when you make a career out of collisions...you dont end up with much of a career at all.

[nj10]

I wouldnt go so far to say he has Westbrook's elusiveness, but he does have a size advantage. That size allows him to run through the things Westbrook runs around. problem there is when you make a career out of collisions...you dont end up with much of a career at all.

I'll agree he doesn't have Westbrook's elusiveness. Hillis is deceptively elusive though. I was referring more to him being a passing threat as well as rushing.

[underrated29]

I hate tatum bell! let me say that now, but i will admit that the last 2 games he played for us he ran harder than i have ever seen him run in his life. Based on those 2 games i would give him another chance, maybe finally he has clicked and doesnt fall down when someone farts. His potential, with him finally being able to run like normal could be real good.

I still am very high on torian. He will do well in any offense we run, jsut wait and see. Obviously he has to have a mcl or whatever to run, but if it heals like it should then he will be the guy.


My dark horse is actually andre hall. I loved the guy before, and then after that 1 game where he fumbled and such i thought he was a goner. But he is the back for a spread offense..

He is small, extremely fast, and runs real low with his center of G. Plus he has moves and ok power. I would very much like to see him in the spread.

torian-15-20
bell/hall 5-10
alridge 3-5 (screens incl)
hillis- goaline, 3rd and short, and the occasional run play keep the d honest.
hillis

[G_Money]

As the Cowboys proved last year, you can never have too many good RBs. They had Barber, added Felix Jones and were set.

But when Tashard Choice was still there in the 4th they added him too.

And it wound up being important when both Barber and Jones went down to injury. Those are 3 GOOD backs.

Do we have 3 good backs?

We have Young, who breaks a leg getting out of bed in the morning.
We have Hall, who looked like the better back before his fumbling and “arm” issue ended his season.
We have Alridge, who looked decent in pre-season but is awfully small to carry any sort of load.
We have Pittman, who may not be back with us and may not even play again – do we know yet?
We have Torain, who has had 3 devastating injuries in 2 years, requiring ridiculous surgeries. Not planning on him carrying the load.
We have Bell, who is a few games removed from stealing luggage and selling phones.
And we have Hillis, who tore his hamstring something fierce.

I don’t like Young, I don’t think Pittman comes back, and I won’t bet a rubber nickel on Torain’s health.

That leaves Bell and Alridge as scatbacks and Hillis and Hall as the only two guys we should even think of giving a third-and-short carry to – and we should think really hard about giving it to Hall, because that hasn’t been shown to be his game either, though he’s better at it than Young.

I’d like another back, please. A really good one.

I’d keep Bell, and Hall and Alridge, but I don’t want to be forced to rely on any of them if Hillis goes down, and Hillis runs so hard that I don’t want to count on his season-long health either.

Add another back and then if it gets down to Bell or Hall they’re down on the depth chart, and decent depth to have.

Don’t go in with one of those guys vying for the starting spot. That’s a recipe for “what the hell happened to our running game?”

~G

[Ziggy]

Can anyone show me a link where McDaniels has said that he will run a spread offense here in Denver?

[Grover]

Selvin Young was put on IR 12/24/08 with a ruptured disk in his neck. Reports said they were going to wait about a month to see if he needed surgery or not. I haven't seen any current updates on his condition.

Although I like our running backs when they're healthy - all have shown some talent and made positive plays - they all seem to be torn up pretty good with the exception of Tatum Bell and that Boyd kid.

I see us drafting a back in the mid rounds to add to the group. I hate to say it, but if anyone except Hillis gets another injury during training camp, just do an injury settlement and get them the heck off the team.

[LRtagger]

As the Cowboys proved last year, you can never have too many good RBs. They had Barber, added Felix Jones and were set.

But when Tashard Choice was still there in the 4th they added him too.

And it wound up being important when both Barber and Jones went down to injury. Those are 3 GOOD backs.

Do we have 3 good backs?

We have Young, who breaks a leg getting out of bed in the morning.
We have Hall, who looked like the better back before his fumbling and “arm” issue ended his season.
We have Alridge, who looked decent in pre-season but is awfully small to carry any sort of load.
We have Pittman, who may not be back with us and may not even play again – do we know yet?
We have Torain, who has had 3 devastating injuries in 2 years, requiring ridiculous surgeries. Not planning on him carrying the load.
We have Bell, who is a few games removed from stealing luggage and selling phones.
And we have Hillis, who tore his hamstring something fierce.

I don’t like Young, I don’t think Pittman comes back, and I won’t bet a rubber nickel on Torain’s health.

That leaves Bell and Alridge as scatbacks and Hillis and Hall as the only two guys we should even think of giving a third-and-short carry to – and we should think really hard about giving it to Hall, because that hasn’t been shown to be his game either, though he’s better at it than Young.

I’d like another back, please. A really good one.

I’d keep Bell, and Hall and Alridge, but I don’t want to be forced to rely on any of them if Hillis goes down, and Hillis runs so hard that I don’t want to count on his season-long health either.

Add another back and then if it gets down to Bell or Hall they’re down on the depth chart, and decent depth to have.

Don’t go in with one of those guys vying for the starting spot. That’s a recipe for “what the hell happened to our running game?”

~G

Dont think Pittman will be back from the neck/back injury? If Pittman plays another year I'll take him over Hall.

[Lonestar]

I believe that a team can not have to many quality RB, LB and CB's.. they all do not have to be all Pros but they have to be more than the stable mikeys has been trying to run since TD and poortis left.. they have to be more than leftovers..

Now I;m not advocating we get two on day one.. but something more than the 5th or 6th round would be a huge upgrade over most of the mokes we have now..

Pittman can stay if he wants to give one more year a chance..

Hillis is my stud wanna be.. the only thing that hurts him is the major body damage he puts on folks trying to tackle him.. But I'd rather have him for 4-6 years than a tater for 8-10..

after that I'm not impressed with any one else. Maybe Aldridge for his return ability..

RBs can be replaced NT, DT QB OLT and CB are much harder to find..

[Northman]

I believe that a team can not have to many quality RB, LB and CB's.. they all do not have to be all Pros but they have to be more than the stable mikeys has been trying to run since TD and poortis left.. they have to be more than leftovers..

.

Exactly.

One of the biggest problems (even for me) is that fans get so enamored with guys on the College level and so desperately want them to succeed to boost their football egos that they want their teams to keep them on their squads regardless if they fail or cant stay healthy. At this point, the guys we have just havent done enough or stayed healthy enough to bother keeping around. Give Torain another shot? Maybe. But Young, Hall, and Bell have all had their shots to show what they got and all of them havent stepped up to the plate in the long run in my mind. I believe its time to clean house and concentrate on trying to find stronger, more durable, and more talented backs and quit wasting time on guys who are second and third string guys to try to carry the load.

[Lonestar]

Exactly.

One of the biggest problems (even for me) is that fans get so enamored with guys on the College level and so desperately want them to succeed to boost their football egos that they want their teams to keep them on their squads regardless if they fail or cant stay healthy. At this point, the guys we have just havent done enough or stayed healthy enough to bother keeping around. Give Torain another shot? Maybe. But Young, Hall, and Bell have all had their shots to show what they got and all of them havent stepped up to the plate in the long run in my mind. I believe its time to clean house and concentrate on trying to find stronger, more durable, and more talented backs and quit wasting time on guys who are second and third string guys to try to carry the load.

On top of that just how many carries are they going to get..

IIRC NE's top 2 backs had about 600--850 yards each over the past 3 years..

Hell Hillis was our leading rusher in 3-4 games this year with 343 IIRC..

[NameUsedBefore]

Hillis is the only guy I can see coming back simply because of his sheer versatility. Running, receiving, blocking, etc.

The other guys are a dime a dozen with distinct flaws in their games, some of them being they can't stay healthy which, no matter how talented you are, has been proven time and time again to trump everything. If you can't get on the field than a 4.2 40 means nothing.

[Bozo Jr.]

In not sold on Young, he seems to think hitting the hole means to run into the back of the linemen and falling on his ass. Over and over again.

[DenBronx]

Can anyone show me a link where McDaniels has said that he will run a spread offense here in Denver?

i think i read a report in the post or rmn on how he wants to bring it to denver. cant find the link for you but why wouldnt he? im pretty sure he wants this to be a pass happy team like it was in new england.

[Lonestar]

i think i read a report in the post or rmn on how he wants to bring it to denver. cant find the link for you but why wouldnt he? im pretty sure he wants this to be a pass happy team like it was in new england.
see below


On top of that just how many carries are they going to get..

IIRC NE's top 2 backs had about 600--850 yards each over the past 3 years..
Hell Hillis was our leading rusher in 3-4 games this year with 343 IIRC..


I think that about sums it up..

[honz]

Can anyone show me a link where McDaniels has said that he will run a spread offense here in Denver?
We won't be running anymore of a spread offense than we did last year. I too am confused as to why people are assuming that we are going to run 4 or 5 WR's out there every play and never run the ball. NE ran the ball a lot this year, and quite a bit out of the 'I' and tight formations. The Broncos ran more of a spread offense last year than NE did IMO.

[honz]

see below




I think that about sums it up..

They were the 6th best rushing team in the league total yardage wise. They had several injuries to their RBs and ran a RBBC all season last year.

*Reading your post again, maybe you are saying that they had a solid rushing attack last year. If so, then I agree with you.

[TXBRONC]

We won't be running anymore of a spread offense than we did last year. I too am confused as to why people are assuming that we are going to run 4 or 5 WR's out there every play and never run the ball. NE ran the ball a lot this year, and quite a bit out of the 'I' and tight formations. The Broncos ran more of a spread offense last year than NE did IMO.

I don't think the Patriots would have run the ball as much this past season had Brady played all season.

I don't think we'll be running the ball nearly as much as we have in years past but we still have an effective running game. I also think we wont see a 1,000 yard rusher for quite some time to come.

[Lonestar]

I don't think the Patriots would have run the ball as much this past season had Brady played all season.

I don't think we'll be running the ball nearly as much as we have in years past but we still have an effective running game. I also think we wont see a 1,000 yard rusher for quite some time to come.


I totally agree with you on this had Brady not been down and out day one they would have indeed ran less enough to keep the defense honest..

With Kessler he needed a briefer play book early and some help in keeping drive s alive later in the season less so..


with Jay and all the firepower we have I see it alot like NE last year as they all get into th swing of things they run less and less ..

[SmilinAssasSin27]

Keep Hillis. Keep Tater. Keep Aldridge. Say goodbye to the rest of em.

[PatricktheDookie]

I'd rather have Tater on the roster than Young. At least Tatum can touch the ball 10-15 times a game without getting injured. Plus he is better in open space than Young is IMO.

Hillis, Tater, Rook, maybe Pittman if he decides to play another year, and Alridge as a PR/KR would be fine by me.

IMO we can afford to spend a 3rd on a RB. Having Young on the roster at this point is like having a 52 1/2 man roster. Does anyone honestly think the guy can touch the ball 10+ times a game and play all 16 games? Sorry, but he's gone...maybe we can get a 7th for him.

I disagree with this strongly. Tatum is fast. Very fast. He can break long runs. He's better at running the ball than Young.

But Tatum is terrible in space. He is not able to make guys miss in open field and has stone hands. His acceleration is not nearly at Young's level, either.

I think both backs are below the NFL average, but Young might have a niche role in this offense whereas Tatum will not.

[SmilinAssasSin27]

LeSean McCoy...next question please.

[Northman]

LeSean McCoy...next question please.


McCoy will probably go to Arizona or Tampa. I dont think he is projected to even make it out of the first round.

[topscribe]

It is amazing how Selvin takes a beating here. I'll admit that he has to show
he can play injury-free for a while, but some seem to think he's not that good,
anyway. So do you have any idea what Selvin's YPC was the first four games
of the season? 6.2. That's right: 228 yards on 37 attempts. Of course, it
leveled off to 5.0 over the season, but so did the entire offense level off
after an astounding first four games.

Of course, Tater has taken some grief, too. Which goes to show that a
jacket is hard to shed. After all, over the six games he was with the Broncos,
his YPC was 5.7, and that is including a rather slow first couple games because
he was out of football shape.

And then there's Hillis. Everybody's hero. As a short-yardage back. Short
yardage? Does anyone realize is YPC was 5.0? Oh, he's slow? Then what do
we do about the fact his 40 time (4.58) is faster than TD's was?--And we
do know about TD's story, don't we?

All that, yet the coaches were saying Torain may be the best of the lot,
when he was healthy.

Are we so all-fired sure the "stud" running back doesn't already play in
Denver? Are we looking over the fence for greener grass when we failed to
look down at what we're walking on?

I'm not saying necessarily that's the way it is. Just giving it thought . . .

-----

[G_Money]

Every year we assume we have a stud stable in the making, top.

And every year the scrubs prove to be able to run it between the 20s, but not in short yardage and not in the red-zone.

The Chargers had multiple stud backs, and found out they missed em when Turner went to Atlanta. Minnesota has a pretty good coupla backs. Pittsburgh drafted a first rounder when they had a good back already.

We can't prove we have a good back. We can prove some of our backs can do some good things sometimes, but that's not the same thing.

And having one more good back than you need is faaaaaaaaaaaar preferrable to having one too few.

~G

[Lonestar]

It is amazing how Selvin takes a beating here. I'll admit that he has to show
he can play injury-free for a while, but some seem to think he's not that good,
anyway. So do you have any idea what Selvin's YPC was the first four games
of the season? 6.2. That's right: 228 yards on 37 attempts. Of course, it
leveled off to 5.0 over the season, but so did the entire offense level off
after an astounding first four games.

Of course, Tater has taken some grief, too. Which goes to show that a
jacket is hard to shed. After all, over the six games he was with the Broncos,
his YPC was 5.7, and that is including a rather slow first couple games because
he was out of football shape.

And then there's Hillis. Everybody's hero. As a short-yardage back. Short
yardage? Does anyone realize is YPC was 5.0? Oh, he's slow? Then what do
we do about the fact his 40 time (4.58) is faster than TD's was?--And we
do know about TD's story, don't we?

All that, yet the coaches were saying Torain may be the best of the lot,
when he was healthy.

Are we so all-fired sure the "stud" running back doesn't already play in
Denver? Are we looking over the fence for greener grass when we failed to
look down at what we're walking on?

I'm not saying necessarily that's the way it is. Just giving it thought . . .

-----



the studbuffalo in DEN is dead..

long live Hillis and RBBC..

[Dean]

We won't be running anymore of a spread offense than we did last year. I too am confused as to why people are assuming that we are going to run 4 or 5 WR's out there every play and never run the ball. NE ran the ball a lot this year, and quite a bit out of the 'I' and tight formations. The Broncos ran more of a spread offense last year than NE did IMO.

No, New England did not run the ball a lot last season. They had 415 running plays which includes QB and wide receiver runs. This measley sum is more than they had been running. In 2007 they ran 360 times and in 2006 they ran 388 times. They didn't call many running plays. Do you expect him to change this year?

[Lonestar]

No, New England did not run the ball a lot last season. They had 415 running plays which includes QB and wide receiver runs. This measley sum is more than they had been running. In 2007 they ran 360 times and in 2006 they ran 388 times. They didn't call many running plays. Do you expect him to change this year?

your preaching toe choir Coach..

the major reason they ran as much as they did last year was they had a QB that had not started game since HS..

other wise it would have been 50-60 plays less. IMO

[topscribe]

Every year we assume we have a stud stable in the making, top.

And every year the scrubs prove to be able to run it between the 20s, but not in short yardage and not in the red-zone.

The Chargers had multiple stud backs, and found out they missed em when Turner went to Atlanta. Minnesota has a pretty good coupla backs. Pittsburgh drafted a first rounder when they had a good back already.

We can't prove we have a good back. We can prove some of our backs can do some good things sometimes, but that's not the same thing.

And having one more good back than you need is faaaaaaaaaaaar preferrable to having one too few.

~G

Well G, it seemed to me that Hillis was very good for short yardage and in the
red zone, in addition to between the 20s. Would it not seem, then, that Hillis
breaks that "every year" drought?

-----

[honz]

No, New England did not run the ball a lot last season. They had 415 running plays which includes QB and wide receiver runs. This measley sum is more than they had been running. In 2007 they ran 360 times and in 2006 they ran 388 times. They didn't call many running plays. Do you expect him to change this year?
And how many times did we run it last year? People are acting like the whole spread offense is going to be something new, but it is pretty much what we ran last year. NE still had the 6th most rushing yards in the league and had a very good offense even with a first time starter...they were doing something right.

[Lonestar]

And how many times did we run it last year? People are acting like the whole spread offense is going to be something new, but it is pretty much what we ran last year. NE still had the 6th most rushing yards in the league and had a very good offense even with a first time starter...they were doing something right.


yep had a decent defense, a top notch passing attack, two much better backs than we had and a front office that was first rate..

I guess we can say we Had a passing attack.. not much more..

[Dean]

And how many times did we run it last year? People are acting like the whole spread offense is going to be something new, but it is pretty much what we ran last year. NE still had the 6th most rushing yards in the league and had a very good offense even with a first time starter...they were doing something right.


Denver ran the ball 448 times. In a normal year its over 500 times.

[CoachChaz]

I've stated before that I am all for having a backfield of Bell and Hillis. I think the two would compliment each other greatly and considering the running game probably wont be a focused area...I'm not sure we need to invest too much in that area. A back that can carry the ball 25 times if needed and break off the big one from time to time and pound out the short ones would be nice. Hillis and Bell alone are not that guy.

But i suppose realistically, when you have diamonds like Cutler. Marshall and Royal and if Sheff ever lives up to the pedastal that many people here put him on...do we really want to invest too much in the running game? Considering the passing talent we have and the pass blocking line we have...I cant say I have a big problem with passing the ball 60% of the time.

Hillis and Bell will be just fine

[Northman]

yep had a decent defense, a top notch passing attack, two much better backs than we had and a front office that was first rate..

I guess we can say we Had a passing attack.. not much more..


Key word, defense.

[LRtagger]

Denver ran the ball 448 times. In a normal year its over 500 times.

NFL.com says we ran the ball 387 times and threw the ball 620.

Last year it says we ran the ball 429 times.

In 2006 it was 488. In 2005, 542.

It also says the Pats ran the ball 513 times this season, 451 times in 2007, and 499 times in 2006. Those seasons under McD as OC.

Ever since Mike drafted Jay we have slowly gotten away from our balanced rushing offense and moved more towards a passing offense. IMO in 2009 even if Mike were still the coach we would have run it less than 450 times....maybe even less than 400. People are complaining that we will run the ball less under McD, but I disagree. Unless Mike would have taken a top back this year, we would have had a similar season to last year IMO.

On the contrary, McD ran he ball 159 more times over the last 3 seasons than Mike did in Denver. Not only that, but the most glaring stat IMO is they scored 58 rushing TDs under McD and we scored 37 rushing TDs under the Mastermind in the past three years....then consider all the success they have had passing the ball recently. I'm not sure why everyone is so worked up over McD's offense It has been much more consistant and much more productive than Mikes has in recent memory.

Not to mention with McD we get a competant defensive staff regardless of how much we run the ball. We would never have that under Mike.

[Dean]

NFL.com says we ran the ball 387 times and threw the ball 620.

Last year it says we ran the ball 429 times.

In 2006 it was 488. In 2005, 542.

It also says the Pats ran the ball 513 times this season, 451 times in 2007, and 499 times in 2006. Those seasons under McD as OC.

Ever since Mike drafted Jay we have slowly gotten away from our balanced rushing offense and moved more towards a passing offense. IMO in 2009 even if Mike were still the coach we would have run it less than 450 times....maybe even less than 400. People are complaining that we will run the ball less under McD, but I disagree. Unless Mike would have taken a top back this year, we would have had a similar season to last year IMO.

On the contrary, McD ran he ball 159 more times over the last 3 seasons than Mike did in Denver. Not only that, but the most glaring stat IMO is they scored 58 rushing TDs under McD and we scored 37 rushing TDs under the Mastermind in the past three years....then consider all the success they have had passing the ball recently. I'm not sure why everyone is so worked up over McD's offense It has been much more consistant and much more productive than Mikes has in recent memory.

Not to mention with McD we get a competant defensive staff regardless of how much we run the ball. We would never have that under Mike.

In looking back, here is the data I used.


All NFL AFC NFC Offense Defense Category... Game Stats Total Yards Passing Rushing Receiving Kicking Field Goals Kick Returns Punting Scoring Touchdowns Category... Game Stats Total Yards Passing Rushing Receiving Sacks Scoring Touchdowns Tackles Interceptions Season... 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 Season Type... Preseason Regular Season Postseason

Rushing Rk Team G Pts/G TotPts Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD Lng 1st 1st% 20+ 40+ FUM
1 New York Giants 16 26.7 427 502 31.4 2,518 5.0 157.4 19 77 130 25.9 24 3 7
2 Atlanta Falcons 16 24.4 391 560 35.0 2,443 4.4 152.7 23 70 131 23.4 16 5 8
3 Carolina Panthers 16 25.9 414 504 31.5 2,437 4.8 152.3 30 69T 118 23.4 24 6 4
4 Baltimore Ravens 16 24.1 385 592 37.0 2,376 4.0 148.5 20 82T 132 22.3 11 4 11
5 Minnesota Vikings 16 23.7 379 519 32.4 2,338 4.5 146.1 15 67T 119 22.9 23 4 13
6 New England Patriots 16 25.6 410 513 32.1 2,278 4.4 142.4 21 49T 145 28.3 11 2 4
7 Tennessee Titans 16 23.4 375 508 31.8 2,199 4.3 137.4 24 80T 108 21.3 15 5 6
8 Washington Redskins 16 16.6 265 478 29.9 2,095 4.4 130.9 12 31 109 22.8 17 0 5
9 New York Jets 16 25.3 405 422 26.4 2,004 4.7 125.2 20 61T 94 22.3 11 4 9
10 Oakland Raiders 16 16.4 263 459 28.7 1,987 4.3 124.2 9 67T 87 19.0 12 3 11
11 Miami Dolphins 16 21.6 345 448 28.0 1,897 4.2 118.6 18 62T 111 24.8 11 4 6
12 Denver Broncos 16 23.1 370 387 24.2 1,862 4.8 116.4 15 71 103 26.6 8 2 8
13 Houston Texans 16 22.9 366 432 27.0 1,846 4.3 115.4 16 71T 106 24.5 13 5 9
14 Buffalo Bills 16 21 336 439 27.4 1,842 4.2 115.1 16 50 107 24.4 9 1 7
15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 22.6 361 451 28.2 1,837 4.1 114.8 13 68T 100 22.2 8 4 6
16 Kansas City Chiefs 16 18.2 291 379 23.7 1,810 4.8 113.1 9 65 94 24.8 15 3 11
17 Green Bay Packers 16 26.2 419 437 27.3 1,805 4.1 112.8 11 73T 99 22.7 10 2 11
18 Jacksonville Jaguars 16 18.9 302 426 26.6 1,774 4.2 110.9 17 46T 107 25.1 11 2 5
19 Seattle Seahawks 16 18.4 294 417 26.1 1,768 4.2 110.5 10 45 104 24.9 13 2 7
20 San Diego Chargers 16 27.4 439 421 26.3 1,726 4.1 107.9 13 45 92 21.9 11 3 3
21 Dallas Cowboys 16 22.6 362 401 25.1 1,723 4.3 107.7 12 60T 102 25.4 12 1 9
22 Philadelphia Eagles 16 26 416 427 26.7 1,697 4.0 106.1 15 39T 94 22.0 11 0 4
23 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 21.7 347 460 28.8 1,690 3.7 105.6 16 34T 93 20.2 8 0 4
24 Chicago Bears 16 23.4 375 434 27.1 1,673 3.9 104.6 15 50T 98 22.6 10 2 4
25 St. Louis Rams 16 14.5 232 417 26.1 1,649 4.0 103.1 8 56T 95 22.8 9 1 8
26 Cleveland Browns 16 14.5 232 409 25.6 1,605 3.9 100.3 6 72T 84 20.5 7 1 8
27 San Francisco 49ers 16 21.2 339 397 24.8 1,599 4.0 99.9 10 41T 83 20.9 9 1 15
28 New Orleans Saints 16 28.9 463 398 24.9 1,594 4.0 99.6 20 43 103 25.9 9 2 8
29 Cincinnati Bengals 16 12.8 204 420 26.2 1,520 3.6 95.0 6 46 80 19.0 7 1 10
30 Detroit Lions 16 16.8 268 352 22.0 1,332 3.8 83.2 10 50 70 19.9 9 1 8
31 Indianapolis Colts 16 23.6 377 370 23.1 1,274 3.4 79.6 13 38 80 21.6 5 0 4
32 Arizona Cardinals 16 26.7 427 340 21.2 1,178 3.5 73.6 14 35 72 21.2 5 0 5



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However, these are the defensive stats not the offensive stats. Sorry, I stand corrected.

:embarassed:

[lex]

First of all, you said backs. That right there says a lot. Secondly, this observation matters more if you dont value the run. Otherwise, the running backs are important as is having a running game.