Packers, Bears, and their take on the running game

FrankRizzo

Cheesehead
Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
5,858
Reaction score
771
Location
Dallas
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...-see-future-in-runners-0g66ss8-163780886.html

Chicago is spending money on a balanced offense while GB is putting it towards the passing attack. Which will prove the smarter investment?
Well, let's look at the recent Super Bowl champions:
Giants last year, regular season they had the worst rushing attack.
They were led by Super Bowl MVP Elisha Manning, with the trifecta WRs of Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham.
They faced New England, led by QB Tom Brady. Nobody even knows who their RBs are.

We won the year before, not behind James Starks or Ryan Grant.

Right before that, we had Brees win it. Today's NFL is a passing game.

The only problem is the terrible cold winter weather that can hit in January. Then it turns into more of a physical game.

Looking back at the best running games of the past decade, I don't see LaDanian, Adrian Peterson, MJD, Ray Rice in any Super Bowls though.
 
OP
OP
ivo610

ivo610

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
16,588
Reaction score
2,250
Location
Madison
Well, let's look at the recent Super Bowl champions:
Giants last year, regular season they had the worst rushing attack.
They were led by Super Bowl MVP Elisha Manning, with the trifecta WRs of Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and Mario Manningham.
They faced New England, led by QB Tom Brady. Nobody even knows who their RBs are.

We won the year before, not behind James Starks or Ryan Grant.

Right before that, we had Brees win it. Today's NFL is a passing game.

The only problem is the terrible cold winter weather that can hit in January. Then it turns into more of a physical game.

Looking back at the best running games of the past decade, I don't see LaDanian, Adrian Peterson, MJD, Ray Rice in any Super Bowls though.

I completely agree with you. Its a dying position. Marshall Faulk and Terrell Davis are the only RBs in the past 15 years to be one of the top 2 key players on a SB team.
 

FrankRizzo

Cheesehead
Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
5,858
Reaction score
771
Location
Dallas
I completely agree with you. Its a dying position. Marshall Faulk and Terrell Davis are the only RBs in the past 15 years to be one of the top 2 key players on a SB team.
Right, and Davis did it in the 1997 & 1998 seasons, a long time ago really.
And Faulk was great, but it was his receiving ability that set him apart as a RB.
Of course, Kurt Warner was the NFL MVP that 1999 season they won it.
Again, we're talking about last century.
 

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,177
Reaction score
1,502
For the Bears to leave the running game would be an insult to Walter Payton and George Halas.
So they will always tend toward run and stop the run. However, will that win them a championship.
Not necessarily. They still like to be on the map due in part to their defense whether that comes to pass.
Nevertheless, Mike Tice likes both the run and the pass and he'll use his strengths as he sees fit.

For us the days of Taylor, Hornung, Brockington, and Ahman Green are gone. For us to pound pound pound we would have to be sitting with a QB like TJ Rubley. And MM and TT won't let that happen.
 

warhawk

Cheesehead
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
1,922
Reaction score
17
Location
Gulf Shores, Al
Teams playing the Packers can only hope the offense has a day like they did against the Giants. If Rodgers is off, the receivers are dropping passes, and guys that never put the ball on the ground do, they may lose.
You can talk balance all day long but when your offense has an ARodgers, weapons at all receiver positions, TE, and RB's that can block and catch PLUS a HC that knows how to work it all, you have a machine that can only stop itself.

There are only a couple of offenses over the years as dangerous and prolific as this one. They will carve your *** up and make it look easy. So jump on Rodgers back and enjoy the ride. It's something special.
 

TJV

Lifelong Packers Fanatic
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
5,389
Reaction score
954
The Bears offense will be better this season if Cutler stays healthy. Their biggest question mark on O IMO is their OL but they'll be helped by the unfortunate departure of Martz as well as by what looks like better talent at WR and better depth at RB.

There's no need to compare the Packers and Bears scoring success last season but what about their percentages of run/pass and their relative success at both?

In the 2011 regular season the Bears ran 929 plays from scrimmage. 51% of the time they passed the ball for a 6.4 yards/attempt average. The other 49% of they ran the ball for a 4.4 yards/attempt average. BTW, the Bears averaged about 4 more rushing attempts per game than the Packers.

The Packers ran 947 plays from scrimmage. 58% of the time they passed the ball for 8.9 yards/attempt average. About 42% of the time they ran the ball for a 3.9 yards/attempt average.

To read/hear some Packers fans you'd think the Packers run the ball 20% of the time. As a matter of fact over McCarthy's last 5 seasons as HC, his teams have run the ball just under 43% of the time for about a 4 yards/rush average. Over that period of time, he never rushed fewer than 40% of the time. IMO he has the balance right. Consider last season's 8.9 yards average per pass attempt vs. 3.9 yards average per rush attempt. That reinforces the idea that the Packers just have to run the ball well enough to keep the opponent's pass rush honest.
 

Powarun

Big Bay Blues fan
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
2,047
Reaction score
355
Location
Madison
How many different starting QB's have we seen in Chicago for the last two decades? Quite a bit, and the Packers have had great quarterbacks, heck for some of us the only starting QB's we've seen play have all smashed records, and that is quite impressive, so impressive I think our offense can have the luxury of not relying on the running game as much. A good QB will change how you play, and the Packers are a prime example of what happens when you have good QB's playing for a while.
 

DevilDon

Inclement Weather Fan
Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
268
It's simple - play to your strengths. If Starks turns out to be Peterson 2.0 we'll run more. If Green turns out to be special you'll probably see more runs. In the meantime it doesn't stall the offense. I'm surprised so many people question the Packers run game. They've hammered it in 4th quarter situations in the past. They can run the rock if need be.
 

Rocky11

Superbowl bound Pack
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Messages
231
Reaction score
26
Location
Delta, Ohio
It is a passing league no question. A good running game is more of a compliment than an option to carry you through. You usually have to pass your way out of trouble.
 

Members online

Latest posts

Top