Moving the Chains: Breaking Down the Backfields

The tricky aspect of breaking down Week 1 is making sense of the outcomes in situations that we're still unsure about. Did the Bears' front seven limit Jahvid Best's yardage totals in Week 1 – or – was poor blocking from his offensive line more of a factor? Why did Pete Carroll and Chan Gailey choose not to give any of their three running backs more than 10 carries? Is John Kuhn going to be a valuable short-yardage back for the Packers while Brandon Jackson takes over as the starter? Who did Jerome Harrison upset in the Browns' organization to not get a fair shake as the team's primary ball carrier this season?

Panicky owners may jettison a talented player following a disappointing one or two-week run to start the season, so be ready to pounce if the situation is right.

Quick Hits

Only three players had five or more red-zone carries in Week 1: Arian Foster, Matt Forte and Fred Taylor.

Darren McFadden took the largest percentage of his team's carries (94.7%), but that number is almost sure to drop as soon as Michael Bush is healthy enough to work his way back into the mix.

Marion Barber monopolized the chances in the red zone for the Cowboys, but disappointed fantasy owners thanks to just 10 touches from scrimmage. Feel free to scratch off Jason Garrett's name from your Christmas Card list.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Measuring each team's running back situation using a variety of different metrics (including YPC and fantasy points per touch, the following players should be utilized more frequently in their team's game plan going forward.

Knowshon Moreno (0.78 FP/T) v. Correll Buckhalter (0.25) – Moreno's hamstring could keep it from happening in the immediate future, but he gained 4.0 YPC to Buckhalter's 2.5 and took all three of the Broncos' carries in the red zone. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get more involved in the passing game as the season unfolds as well.

Ronnie Brown (0.97) v. Ricky Williams (0.34) – In addition to finding the end zone, Brown turned in his 13 carries into 65 yards (5.0 YPC) and caught two passes for 20 yards while Williams returned a mere 3.4 yards per tote. Both are difficult to start in Week 2 against Minnesota, but the Dolphins' running game may be good enough to generate some serviceable numbers if Chad Henne can keep the Vikings' defense honest.

Jerome Harrison v. Peyton Hillis – Hillis is going to be a popular waiver-wire pickup for Week 2 after collecting both of the Browns' red-zone carries against the Bucs on Sunday and scoring on one of them. It really seems like the Holmgren regime in the front office doesn't want to make Jerome Harrison an every down back. It was his explosiveness – a 39-yard run – that afforded Hillis his TD. The Browns have to be creative to get the ball into Josh Cribbs' hands, but even Seneca Wallace can take the snap and hand the ball off to Harrison. He's averaged 4.9 YPC over 280 career runs, Hillis has averaged 4.9 YPC over 90 career runs. The difference? Hillis has a career long run of 19 yards. Harrison has six 20+ and two 40+ runs.

Justin Forsett vs. Julius Jones and Leon Washington. – Nothing about the way Pete Carroll distributed the carries in Week 1 made any sense. Of his three-headed monster in the backfield, only Forsett (6.1 YPC) was a threat to the San Francisco defense. He also was the only Seahawks running back to catch a pass (three receptions, 17 yards) and take a carry in the red zone. There's no way around it, his Week 1 was a huge disappointment, but the cream always rises and hopefully Carroll figures this one out sooner rather than later.

Jamaal Charles (1.33 FP/T) v. Thomas Jones (0.35) – There are some intriguing things that the Chiefs are able to do offensively with Jones in the backfield and Charles in the slot as a receiver. A 50-50 timeshare just doesn't make sense here (11 carries each against the Chargers on Monday night) when Charles averaged 8.4 YPC thanks to a 56-yard TD run. Conditions were rainy and poor for the passing game, so we'll attribute some of Matt Cassel's struggles to that, but he'd be wise to get his talented back involved in the short passing game as well.

Red-Zone Carries

Tilted

Arian Foster over Steve Slaton: 10-0
Pierre Thomas over Reggie Bush: 3-0
Ahmad Bradshaw over Brandon Jacobs: 4-1
Willis McGahee over Ray Rice: 3-1, Rice did have two red-zone targets and McGahee had none.
Matt Forte over Chester Taylor: 5-1 (more on Forte below)
Marion Barber over Felix Jones & Tashard Choice: 3-0 (mentioned above, but worth repeating)
LaDainian Tomlinson over Shonn Greene: 1-0
Darren McFadden over Michael Bennett: 3-0, plus four red-zone targets from Jason Campbell.

Shared

DeAngelo Williams split with Jonathan Stewart: 2-2
Fred Taylor shared with BenJarvus Green-Ellis: 5-4
Earnest Graham split with Cadillac Williams: 2-1, both backs had a carry inside the five-yard line.

Stolen

John Kuhn took one away from Brandon Jackson: 3-1 favoring Jackson, but Kuhn found paydirt.

Bad Play-Calling Sequence

That lateral/screen play the Cowboys ran before halftime against Washington on Sunday night overshadowed some terrible coaching in the Panthers-Giants game. Down 15 points in the fourth quarter, the Panthers had a first-and-goal situation from the Giants' four-yard line after a pass interference call. Here's the next three plays:

1st down – Matt Moore pass incomplete to Steve Smith.
2nd down – Matt Moore (from the shotgun) pass incomplete to Brandon LaFell.
3rd down – Matt Moore intercepted on a pass intended for Steve Smith.

What is the goal there? Why not even take one shot with either DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart down close. It's four-down territory, so two run plays aren't even out of the question, but failing to put the ball into the hands of your backs (who both averaged more than 5.0 YPC last season) is a complete coaching fail.

Red-Zone Follies – Don't be a regular in this section.

Ahmad Bradshaw (Fumble, 1)
Peyton Hillis (Fumble, 1)
Earnest Graham (Fumble, 1)
Willis McGahee (Fumble, 1)
Matt Forte stuffed three times by the Lions at the one-yard line, turnover on downs.
Norv Turner giving Darren Sproles a carry inside the five-yard line rather than going with Ryan Matthews.

The Raw Data