Today's stats discussion - Ahman Green's rushing vs. Miami

[Patler]

MM has said the objectives of the running game with zone blocking are:

1. No negative yards.
2. Increasing frequency of better runs as the game goes on and D-linemen tire.
3. Bust a long one latter in the game.

Ahman Green's runs last Sunday:
1st qtr.: 2, 4, 1, 1, 7, 0, 1, 1
2nd qtr: 3, 5, 0, 5
3rd qtr.: 6, 2 (sat out most of it to receive fluids via IV)
4th qtr.: 70, 8, 0, 2

Objective 1 - MET! No negative yard runs by Green.
Objective 2 - MET! 1 run of 5 or more yards in first 9 attempts, 5 in the next 9.
Objective 3 - MET! 70 yarder in 4th quarter.

[MJZiggy]

I didn't realize those 0-yarders were no yards rather than a loss of one. That's pretty cool. I also didn't notice til you pointed it out the improvement later in the game. Is that the rb or the line wearing down the defenders, though. How did Morency do in the 3rd quarter stepping in for Green?

[Patler]

I also didn't notice til you pointed it out the improvement later in the game. Is that the rb or the line wearing down the defenders, though. How did Morency do in the 3rd quarter stepping in for Green?

Advocates of cut blocking say it tires the D-line and wears them out faster. There is also a belief that after getting cut a few times linemen pursue less vigorously. That is supposed to result in better running lanes as the game goes on.

Morrency's runs
2nd Qtr.: 3
3rd qtr.: 2, 1, 3
4th Qtr.: 1, 2, 0.

[Noodle]

Good topic, Patler. Morency breaks downs as follows:

Q1 0rushes
Q2 3yds
Q3 2yds, 1yd, 3yds
Q4 1yd, 2yds, 0yds

So again, there were no negative yard runs, which is good, but there also wasn't a lot of room, and Morency never hit a run bigger than 3 yds.

I thought Green looked very tough. He was getting hit at or behind the line quite a bit, but maintained good leg churn and powered out yards where at times there was nothing.

The one thing that surprised me was that Favre had no pass attempts to Green. Don't know if that was by plan or something else. I've always thought Green is especially dangerous when he gets the ball out in space and can obliterate some poor DB.

[pittstang5]

Patler - good post.

I also noticed that most of Green's runs were for positive yardage, except the 3rd and 1 run where he barely made it back the the line. Someone on the o-line FUBAR'd that one.

I know everyone wants to see the 5 - 6 yard gains every time Green runs the ball, but I'll take the little 1 or 2 yard gains over the -2 and -3 yards lost we saw a lot last year.

[cheese_man]

in every game he played this season i nocited he would always stiff arm somebody to the ground.

[ND72]

since it was just mentioned, I thought I'd throw this out there. With losing K-Rob, and possibly Jennings at least for this weekend, I think Ahman Green NEEDS to become part of the passing game. David Martin did a nice job, i thought, and Bubba "is who we thought he is"...(sorry, had to do it)...but we need another "threat" right now, and it HAS to be Ahman.

[MJZiggy]

So who's gonna remind them at 1265 what a weapon he is in the receiving game?

[Patler]

I wonder if that was just something unique to the gameplan for Miami, fewer passes to the backs. Even with missing two games and getting none this week, Green still has the 3rd most receptions on the team. The RBs have gotten a lot of passes until this week, when they had none. (Green has 17, Herron 9, Morency 8).

[pittstang5]

I didn't take notice, but maybe Green was left in to block and that's why Favre didn't throw to him? Maybe? I'll have to "review the tape."

[Patler]

I didn't take notice, but maybe Green was left in to block and that's why Favre didn't throw to him? Maybe? I'll have to "review the tape."

Good point. Might have been part of those "adjustments" MM mentioned to take care of the "Taylor problem"!

[Noodle]

I looked for this, and it seemed to me he was left in to block, but, unless it was blitz pickup, he'd hit a guy and release. Favre just didn't seem to be looking for him. This seemed to be by plan rather than any neglect or fault of Favre's. Can't recall any screens either, but I could be wrong here. It'd be interesting to hear MM's explanation.

I've said it before, but I've always wondered why they haven't tried splitting out Green as a receiver a few times. Maybe they like what he does in chipping pass rushers (he's pretty stout at that), but especially this year you'd think they might get him out wide to create some interesting options -- like Faulk used to do and like Westbrook does so well now.

[BF4MVP]

Green certainly is the prototypical ZBS running back. I can't help but think that if he was playing in the St. Louis game he would have had 150+ yards. Hopefully with improved line play, and the return of Cliffy, Green can bust some more long runs this season.

[BF4MVP]

Edit: Double post..Wow..

[mraynrand]

Advocates of cut blocking say it tires the D-line and wears them out faster. There is also a belief that after getting cut a few times linemen pursue less vigorously. That is supposed to result in better running lanes as the game goes on.

That's the idea. You sometimes see D-lineman looking down trying to avoid getting cut blocked. They look like they're concerned about being injured! The rules have changed a bit, where you have to start your block at at least thigh level, but that doesn't mean you won't slip lower and take out ankles.

As a related issue, on Green's TD run, the Packers could have been called for an illegal block on the cutoff, as the defender was engaged high as he was being cut blocked low by another lineman. Whew, that was close!