What Happened to the Running Game?

I don't know that it's any more important. I think the old standby of left guards being more athletic is a pulling thing, and this team doesn't do a lot of that and when it does it seems pretty well evenly divided between the two guards doing it.

 

I think that is a big part of it too. Not so sure our guards are best suited for a ZBS, or at least are having trouble adapting to it.

 

Since the subject of Hartline's goose egg was brought up in this thread, I'd just like to say before anyone of us can accurately say he had a bad game in that he wasn't getting open, we'd need to look at the all 22 view in the replay to see if he was getting open on a reasonable number of plays and Tannehill just didn't have enough time or wasn't seeing him on those particular plays.

 

Funny, that article blames everything from the OL, to the defensive schemes called against us, to the lack of talent in our passing game, but nothing on the guy were trying to pin most of the blame on here? Weird.

As I mentioned all along... IMO, its on the OL, and its on our offense as a whole because nobody takes them seriously in the passing game, so you can load up the box all day against us and be successful. If Jenkins doesn't fall asleep, and play run all the way the Moore TD probably never happens. Until that changes, there will be nowhere for Reggie to go. You can't really nail your RB's to the wall for that if there's no where for them to run. Sometimes, you just get beat because you don't have the talent all over the field. That's what were seeing here IMO. Teams have adjusted against us to stop the run, and pressure the QB. Sure we can get little 5 yard pass plays when Tannehill makes the right read on the blitz, but Defenses dont take that stuff seriously, they'll give you that all day. When that's the only passing game you have, the odds are in the D's favor.

That's my belief on this issue... if you want the running game to get fixed, fix the passing game first. Until teams take it seriously, we'll see alot of the same IMO. Of course, it also helped the Rams that they have two really good corners that Fisher believes in, especially against our WR's (or lack thereof) so he could sell out all day and play against the run knowing that his corners will blanket our WR's. Not every team can do that though, which is the good news for us.

I also think, we're looking too much at ourselves to find the faults, rather than maybe just giving some credit to a Defense, and a coach who had the better game plan on Sunday, and really probably should have won the game. So kudos to our guys for standing strong, and pulling off the win.

Thats all I really want to say on this, because I get it.. everyone has their opinion on what the issue is, and most aren't willing to change, and thats cool too!

 

the war begins in the trenches & the last few games the offensive line has lost. they've got to assert dominance @ the line of scrimmage, they need a push to open a crack for a running back to hit.

 

Shou, remember the Jets are an elite defensive team.

That being said, I agree with you about Bush, something isn't right. He isn't hitting the holes like he did before the injury. Maybe he is still hurting? I am going to withhold judgement till I see what he does vs Indy. He should be able to run wild on them. If not, maybe it's time to see what Thomas can do for a full game.

 

mike sherman gave the answer..crowded LOS, as much as i love reggie, he still dances to much imo

 

When Reggie has a hole, he hits it. When he doesn't he dances. The oline isn't getting enough push.

 

I don't agree. I think he often misses some wholes, and/or cut back lanes.

 

No way should this be blamed on the OL. The OL is blocking the same as it was before. Yesterday Reggie Bush looked like the same player he did early in the season.

Its really a matter of Bush getting opportunities to break long runs. He was close a couple of times yesterday. It really is just a function of how many long runs we can expect from Bush in a season, and how those will be distributed throughout.

 

I agree. I think the blame is somewhat spread around to a few different individuals.

Richie Incognito and John Jerry just don't seem like they're athletic enough for this scheme. They're unable to reach the second level the way Pouncey, Long, and Martin do. Neither of them moves laterally very well, a perfect example being the play where Reggie Bush fumbled yesterday; Incognito tried to make a block high when the defender took him on low, thus clogging the hole.

Reggie Bush ran better yesterday than he did against Cincinnati and St. Louis, but you can still see he's trying to force a big play at times.

Daniel Thomas doesn't have very good vision, and isn't very patient.

Someone said this in the game thread (Disgustipate maybe?), and I agree, if you could somehow get Daniel Thomas to be more patient and "slow down" a bit, and Reggie Bush to hit holes faster, it negates some of the problems each of them are respectively having.

I still think that Miami's going to need to get more athletic at the guard position this offseason; Mike Pouncey can't be the only player on the interior capable of pulling and getting to the second level consistently. If you could get John Jerry down another 30lbs, I think he'd be pretty serviceable. Richie Incognito I just think isn't really that good, especially in this offense.

 

Jets run D has fallen off, it was ranked 30th. Colts run D is ranked 27th. It has got to get going, they're certainly well rested. Bush pretty much didn't play the second half since we had a big lead. Miller hasn't been in, these guys are well rested. Hopefully they get it going in Indy, which has turned into a big game.

 

Yesterday Bush had 4.2 YPC and Thomas 2.8 YPC.

Give Bush more carries. and get LAMAR MILLER into the game more.

Thomas is not a great back. He is decent, nothing more.

 

You know it's bad when Daniel Thomas looks better than Bush aside from the one TD Bush had. The oline takes some blame. But aside from fixing whatever is going on there, I think one answer could be Lamar Miller. Oh, and stop running the ****ing ball so much on 1st down.

 

I said it in the other thread, but I think it's a major point is that the Dolphins coaching staff seems to agree with the idea that Bush has had issues making reads.

Mike Sherman's offense is probably 90% zone plays, and he throws in an occasional man-blocking play. This week the plays called for Bush were overwhelmingly man blocking plays for the first time this year.

I think it says something about their faith in Bush's vision that they did this. They basically ran plays for Reggie with an assigned hole for him to hit and limited his decisions and put less emphasis on him finding a cutback lane. He did have that phenomenal touchdown run I believe off of a zone rushing play, but I think that was less playing within the scheme and more an example of his tremendous physical skills, which is why he's been so hit or miss this year. He can't play that well within the scheme but at times he can game it well enough it doesn't matter. Except now he got hurt and appears it's become a problem.

 

What is wrong with the running game? Bush isn't the runner he was during the early part of the season. The offensive line also isn't opening up holes on a consistent basis. Thomas is an average back and he really doesn't get the tough yardage expected from a back his size.

So basically a below average run blocking line and two running backs who don't seem capable of consistently making yardage, is what is wrong with the running game. It about as simple as that.

 

They all dance

 

Execution. The crease has to be there at the exact time the back is supposed to hit it. Ain't happening.

 

It ran its course.