Right- BB had seen enough and put him on the bench for coughing it up.
Possible but don't act as if you know for a fact the exact reason for the "benching".
I'm sure Maroney has worked very hard on ball security these last few weeks. The problem is that ihis efforts are not yielding the desired results.
So if his "efforts" are the past few weeks, and the results are 1 fumble in 63 carries, are you saying that only 0 fumbles is acceptable?
I'm sure you can find stretches of "fumble-itis for every great RB. The problem is that Maroney is doing two things 1- fumbling during the playoff stretch drive and 2) at inopportune times/places during the game and is costing the team points.
This last fumble was the first in December, which is the "stretch drive". His 3 stretch 1-a-game was in November. You even said yourself you can find stretches for every RB, but yet are nitpicking on Maroney, even though he has proven throughout his career and in college that he is not prone to "fumble-itis" .
It's a trend. Can't dismiss recent trends with a good month of samples. In his last 116 carries, Maroney has fumbled 4 times.
You act as if "trends" are predictors of the future, just like Moss' numbers were a "trend".
It is what it is, stop trying to take tiny sample sizes of the latest data and extrapolate them into opinionated "trends".
In the same exact week span (10-12) that Maroney had 3 fumbles, Adrian Peterson had 4. Maybe the Vikings should be worried about trusting him in the playoffs and go with someone else. It's a trend!
I agree but in a RBs last 116 carries, 4 fumbles it is not an overstatement. If it the 4 fumbles were spread out over say 243 carries, I would concur.
Peterson's 4 fumbles were spread out over 67 carries. A "stretch" is usually going to have small total numbers, and thus the average is going to be exaggerated. Once again it's completely disingenous of you to attempt to use a tiny sample size's average to argue that Maroney is now fumble prone.
What if he coughs it up vs Houston? Vs BAL in the playoffs. What is your threshold?
And now it comes down to what ifs? What if Adrian Peterson fumbles 4 times and the vikings are one and done. Would that mean you would all of a sudden not want Adrian Peterson on your favorite team?
I will be disappointed if/when any turnover occurs, but just like a Brady INT isn't going to make me worried every time Brady throws the ball, I am not worried on all of a running-back's carries after a fumble, unless that player has a large sample and lengthy history indicating it to be an issue.