FB 102 - Running the ball

[maddogkf]

OK, now I know alot about football, but a know-it-all-football guru I am not.

However, the rushing stats for our team that I just happened upon blew my mind away. Take a look at this:

Most 100-Yard Rushing Games
Career
34 Ottis Anderson, 1979-86
14 Stump Mitchell, 1981-89
9 Jim Otis, 1973-77
6 Johnny Johnson, 1990-92
Johnny Roland, 1966-72
5 Terry Metcalf, 1973-77
John David Crow, 1958-64
Charley Trippi, 1947-55

Season
9 Ottis Anderson, 1979
7 Ottis Anderson, 1979
6 Ottis Anderson, 1980
5 Jim Otis, 1976

Rushing Yards in a Season
1,605 Ottis Anderson, 1979
1,376 Ottis Anderson, 1981
1,352 Ottis Anderson, 1980
1,270 Ottis Anderson, 1983
1,174 Ottis Anderson, 1984
1,076 Jim Otis, 1975
1,071 John David Crow, 1960
1,070 Garrison Hearst, 1995
1,042 Adrian Murrell, 1998
1,018 Ronald Moore, 1993
1,006 Stump Mitchell, 1985


Since Johnny Johnson, we have not had A SINGLE RUNNING BACK have more than 5 games with over 100 yards rushing in a CAREER!

Since OJ Anderson, we have not had A SINGLE RUNNING BACK have over 1100 yards rushing IN A SEASON!

 

[jf-08]

Hopefully Emmitt / Shipp will each get 5 + games this year

 

[JeffGollin]

Why Stats Suck

That the Cardinal running attack of late has been all but absent is no great secret.

But all the stats you refer to really tell you is that the Cards did not have one go-to RB to carry the load in any given year recently.

They don't account for years when the starting RB got injured and the load for the remainder of the season had to be picked up by a backup RB. (Example - Hearst and Ron Moore)

Or where running load may have been shared by 2 or more backs - like LC/Stump Mitchell or Pittman/Jones.

They also don't factor in those seasons where our run defense sucked so mightily that we had fewer offensive plays and therefore less running attempts.

Or where our overall defense was so bad that we were continually forced to throw our way out of a hole in the second half of games.

 

[JHall]

Kinda hard to run if you're behind all the time.

 

[maddogkf]

Re: Why Stats Suck

Originally posted by JeffGollin
That the Cardinal running attack of late has been all but absent is no great secret.

But all the stats you refer to really tell you is that the Cards did not have one go-to RB to carry the load in any given year recently.

They don't account for years when the starting RB got injured and the load for the remainder of the season had to be picked up by a backup RB. (Example - Hearst and Ron Moore)

Or where running load may have been shared by 2 or more backs - like LC/Stump Mitchell or Pittman/Jones.

They also don't factor in those seasons where our run defense sucked so mightily that we had fewer offensive plays and therefore less running attempts.

Or where our overall defense was so bad that we were continually forced to throw our way out of a hole in the second half of games.

The point that I was trying to make is that we have not had a "feared" back that other teams create a game plan around. Of course, they put 8 in the box to stop the run & try to make our QB beat us. Since our previous QB could not look off a receiver, 1/2 the field was taken away.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

This leads me to the question; why did the Cardinals ever let Ottis Anderson go?

 

[Goldfield]

Originally posted by JHall
Kinda hard to run if you're behind all the time.

in a nut shell...

 

[Lex]

On the other hand, if you can't run, you'll be behind all the time.

Stats do suck, they're open to interpretation. Who was on the offensive line when Ottis rang up those yards?

From 79-86 when Ottis had thirty four 100 yard games, the Cardinals record was 48-71-2.

I'd rather have two guys run for 700 yards each, or better yet, three guys run for 500 yards each. Skill position players get WAY too much credit for what the REAL players in the trenches do, and as a result, skill position players make WAY more money than they deserve. As soon as an offensive line makes a running back famous, the running back gets paid at the expense of the linemen.

That doesn't seem right, does it?

 

[JeffGollin]

This leads me to the question; why did the Cardinals ever let Ottis Anderson go?
I hated when they released OJ. I seem to recall that right before he was cut, he drew fan criticism for either putting the ball on the ground too much, dropping passes or just not consistently making plays in general.

Sometimes I get the feeling the Card mgt. and coaching staff haven't been very good at distinguishing whether an adverse circumstance was "chronic" or merely a bump in the road. (i.e. we'd stick with guys who simply couldn't or wouldn't get it done. But we'd dump other guys who'd rebound to perform well on another team).