Iosefa and Boldin both averaged a solid 3.6 ypc Sunday and you know what... that is just FINE. We ran the ball 25 times and only lost yardage 2 times IIRC. With our offense things become much harder when we have to throw the ball more than 6 or 7 yards. Inside 7 yards is in our comfort zone. More plays, more options, just more likely that we will convert. Well this week the running game provided that kind of comfort level for most of the game. 3.6-8 is more than good enough to compliment this passing offense. It was good enough in 2001 and 2003 and it will be good enough now, as long as it is consistent in getting those hard yards in Short yardage situations.
Here is a rare occasion where I respectfully disagree a bit, Ken. While I certainly understand the underlying point about needing "just enough" in the running game, let's look at your examples of 2001 and 2003, just to put things in perspective:
1) 2001---Antwain Smith---almost 1200 yards rushing + 13 total touchdowns. He had a 4.0 average yards per carry and caught another 19 balls out of the backfield, so our 2001 version of an adequate RB is MUCH better than anything we've come close to seeing this year. Let's not short change 2001 Antwain Smith. While maybe "unspectacular," his 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns certainly got it done. Hell, people were excited about Ridley a few seasons ago for putting up almost identical numbers, so we can't fairly go back and say that Smith wasn't effective for doing the exact same thing.
2) One thing comes to mind when looking at the 2001 postseason run, and that's turnovers. We turned the ball over ONCE the entire postseason stretch, and brought in a total of SEVEN from the opposition. This point is driven home even more by the fact that we won the turnover battle in the AFCCG 4-0 (and barely won), and also won the turnover battle in the SB 3-0 (and barely won). Those are two clutch performances by the defense and ST in the two biggest games of the year, so that needs to be taken into account when looking at what you may deem as mediocre rushing performance--offensively.
3) The 2001 defense was giving up 17.0 points per game, and held the opposition to 17 points or less in 11/12 last games. That's an insane stretch, with insane numbers. They secured more INTs (20), than they allowed touchdowns (18). That is certainly big, and if you're impressed by that stat just wait for the next one.
4) The 2003 defense gave up 14.9 points per game, which is simply amazing. This is the stat that always drives home just how exceptional that year's defense was, and I'm not sure that it can ever be replicated: Once again, the defense secured more INTs (29!!!), than touchdowns allowed (11!!!). This obviously helped to overshadow the poor offensive rushing attack, but I'm not sure that we can count on anything like this happening again.
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So, to recap, Antwain Smith had a much better season in 2001 than you're giving credit to, and the 2003 defense was so smothering (as was 2001, holding the opposition to 17 or less in 11/12 last games) that it helped to overshadow the poor rushing averages seen from 2003 Faulk/Smith (3.6 and 3.5). While I realize that our current 2015 defense is good, if not very good, I think we'll still need to beef up that average yards per rush to something in the 4.1--4.3 range to have an acceptable rushing attack. 3.5 or 3.6 YPC is not likely to get the job done in this specific situation.
