Grady Jarrett vs Shaq Mason

[manxman2601]

Then why did our running game suck the last 2+ months of the season? Gronk's injury? The lack of a young Power Back with explosive legs? Thuney hitting the rookie wall? Andrews lacking the size & power to effectively run-block? All of the above? Other?

In my opinion, too much reliance on inside zone runs and not enough dominating power on the OL. That combined with three young, inexperienced interior OL. Also, the system telegraphs run v pass depending on whether Blount or Lewis/White are in the game. Teams can set themselves up for the run if Blount is in the game.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Then why did our running game suck the last 2+ months of the season? Gronk's injury? The lack of a young Power Back with explosive legs? Thuney hitting the rookie wall? Andrews lacking the size & power to effectively run-block? All of the above? Other?

Rk Team G Pts/G TotPts Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD Lng 1st 1st% 20+ 40+ FUM
1 Buffalo Bills 16 24.9 399 492 30.8 2,630 5.3 164.4 29 75T 146 29.7 27 5 11
2 Dallas Cowboys 16 26.3 421 499 31.2 2,396 4.8 149.8 24 60T 142 28.5 17 3 9
3 Tennessee Titans 16 23.8 381 476 29.8 2,187 4.6 136.7 16 75T 115 24.2 8 3 10
4 San Francisco 49ers 16 19.3 309 458 28.6 2,019 4.4 126.2 15 47 116 25.3 11 2 8
5 Atlanta Falcons 16 33.8 540 421 26.3 1,928 4.6 120.5 20 75T 108 25.7 15 4 3
6 Oakland Raiders 16 26 416 434 27.1 1,922 4.4 120.1 17 75T 98 22.6 19 2 8
7 New England Patriots 16 27.6 441 482 30.1 1,872 3.9 117.0 19 44 109 22.6 8 3 8
8 Houston Texans 16 17.4 279 456 28.5 1,859 4.1 116.2 8 45 102 22.4 10 1 8
9 Miami Dolphins 16 22.7 363 405 25.3 1,824 4.5 114.0 14 62T 90 22.2 12 5 11
10 Carolina Panthers 16 23.1 369 453 28.3 1,814 4.0 113.4 16 47 99 21.9 10 1 6


We may not have dominated on the ground, but we were a lot better than I expected compared with the rest of the NFL. Just some food for thought.

 

[I.M. Fletcher]

For me, it looked like Blount slowed down, but there were certainly a lot of different reasons for that. Losing gronk absolutely hurt the run game, not necessarily because of his blocking, but what it does to defensive subs.

Working lewis back in also slowed things down.