Interesting stat: Preseason running plays

Originally posted by BurritoSmuggler:
thats all fine and dandy, but i would like to point out that even though we ran over the raiders NON stop, we BARELY won. in fact, if it was a real game, it would have been a tie.. they wouldnt have gone for two. actually, if you want to go even further, our second and third units were the ones who won the game. we were losing the entire first half.

although im excited we can run like mad, its going to take more than that to win games. both hill and smith looked like crap the first two games.. well, at least below average. i really hope hill can step up his game because not even the best run game and best def will take us all the way. look at the vikings. the ravens did it, but that was lucky.. dilfer was probably worse than hill. and that raven d was probably better than our d.

i dont mean to be a downer, im just saying.. dont get all sucked into the hype. dont get your hopes up. just because we're dominating in the run game, doesnt mean we'll have an amazing season.. unfortunately. :(

i think if hill can finish this season with a qb rating of around 85, then we should make the play offs. just my opinion. and it is possible.

The aim of preseason is not to win the game.

-9fA

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:

Originally posted by BurritoSmuggler:
thats all fine and dandy, but i would like to point out that even though we ran over the raiders NON stop, we BARELY won. in fact, if it was a real game, it would have been a tie.. they wouldnt have gone for two. actually, if you want to go even further, our second and third units were the ones who won the game. we were losing the entire first half.

although im excited we can run like mad, its going to take more than that to win games. both hill and smith looked like crap the first two games.. well, at least below average. i really hope hill can step up his game because not even the best run game and best def will take us all the way. look at the vikings. the ravens did it, but that was lucky.. dilfer was probably worse than hill. and that raven d was probably better than our d.

i dont mean to be a downer, im just saying.. dont get all sucked into the hype. dont get your hopes up. just because we're dominating in the run game, doesnt mean we'll have an amazing season.. unfortunately. :(

i think if hill can finish this season with a qb rating of around 85, then we should make the play offs. just my opinion. and it is possible.

The aim of preseason is not to win the game.

-9fA

Yeah, I see it the same way. And as I said in my initial post, I just thought it was interesting to see how our running game stacked up stat-wise this preseason.

I don´t want to delve into the QB situation here (it´s not like we don´t have a few threads about that already ) and of course we have to see how our Offense fares as a whole during the season.

But considering the thought that we want and need a strong running game and the amazing fact that we generated our monster rushing totals even without our best running back (alright, Frank contributed two carries and seven yards, I´ll give you that ) has to be reassuring

This year, Frank is described to be in terrific shape, we seem to have a legitimate backup in Coffee, something we did not have before and the O-Line seems to have found its run blocking groove already and is opening big holes for all our runnings backs. Even Michael Robinson seems to have improved his running, those are all encouraging factors.

Now, I am fully aware that we need a whole lot more than just that for a great season (count me in on being concerned about the pass rush...), but being able to trample all over people in the run game is at least a first step

Originally posted by BobS:

Originally posted by tohara3:
Very nice. I think our running game is going to be very good this year!

It better be with the QBs we have.

Yeah, and this 'running' game we're implementing could very well help out our pass rushers in the fact that they'll be fresh. Our running attack could very well wear down their defense too, meaning a few less sacks on our quarterback too.

I'm all for our philosophy, as long as it opens up the field for some passing yards also

Excellent. Hopefully Shaun Hill will play well so defenses won't stack the box.

Originally posted by darkknight49:

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:
Yeah this offense is starting to resemble very much like the offense Norv ran.

Going back to the basics.

-9fA

with better receivers and (hopefully) a better VD. And we have a legit back up to Frank. To be honest, i don't even remember the back up for frank back then.

Maurice Hicks i think.

Hicks and Robinson. what ever happened to him? is he still with the vikings?

Keep in mind that these stats are based on just TWO preseason games. Both of those games came against teams that have been known for having the worst run defenses in the NFL (Denver Broncos & Oakland Raiders).

I'm just not buying it. I need to see it in the regular season. This is another reason why I'm not too concerned about our passing offense so far.

The only thing you can really deduce from these preseason games is how individual players look in certain situations/matchups. But even that's not 100% accurate.
Remember how Thomas Clayton dominated in preseason?

It's just plain too early to tell how good we are in any aspect of the game or even how coaches will call the game. Preseason is televised practice. Coaches want to see certain things from certain players and get some of the young guys a feel for the NFL game. I know we all can't wait for the season to start and are desperately trying to read into everything we see, read or hear, but none of what we've seen so far is a very good indication of what we'll see in the regular season. Just 2 weeks though, so keep those emotions in a holding pattern.