Quote:Our inability to throw the ball goes hand-in-hand with our inability to run the ball.  Last year we sucked at both.  The end result was that other teams would tighten up for the first two downs and in a long 3rd down situation would expect our pass before we even came out of the huddle.  When you can run the ball, the defense has to step up to fight it.  When they step up to the run, it opens up opportunities in the passing game that weren't there before.

 

I listened to a podcast a year or two ago by two former line players and I have noticed how what they said is true almost always.  The goal of an offense (other than to score) is to get into 3rd and manageable situations.  That means being able to have a 3rd down play that's 5 yards or less.  That is the best way for an offense to score.  The ability to run the ball effectively is extremely important to getting to those 3rd and short situations.  You won't convert all of the short 3rd downs, but you'll convert a much higher percent of them.  Plus throw in the fact that on a 3rd and short the defense has to be ready for either a run or a pass and it makes your offense less predictable.  

 

So for an article to say that Toby is an every down back doesn't mean that it's going to be a run heavy offense.  It just means they trust him to run the ball and they trust him in pass blocking situations and checkdown situations.  That's something we haven't had in a running back since before MJD got hurt a few years ago.

 

I agree with all of this. And the part about "...getting to Third and manageable..." is kind of a cornerstone of the Chip Kelly / Warp Speed / run-as-many-plays-as-possible Offensive regeneration that we're seeing. If you can generate more plays, you put more pressure on the Defense; they have to rotate players more frequently, make more adjustments, reassess their approach that much more often and the odds start playing into the Offense's favor of generating an explosive play.

 

Allowing five yards on a First Down is bad for the Defense. Doing it on every First down is catastrophic.

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