Breaking Down the Arizona Cardinals Running Game

by cgolden on Sep 23, 2008 11:54 AM MDT in News Comment 13 comments

A 116 yard rushing performance on 23 carries (5.0 yards per carry) may not seem like an accomplishment but for a team that was averaging 2.7 yards per rush going into Washington, it's a good day. Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower ripped off productive runs all afternoon and I was somewhat surprised by the breakdown of the carries, so let me know what you think:

__of_carries_medium

My first thought was that it was pretty surprising for the majority of the carries to be to the outside. I thought going in that it played to Edge and Hightower's strengths to run between the tackles but for whatever the reason the Cardinals made their living running either at the offensive tackle or outside the OT.

Yards_by_direction_medium

The overwhelming successful place to run was behind or outside of left tackle, as that was the only area with a significant number of carries that averaged better than five yards a carry. When running at left guard, they averaged 5.5 yards per carry but with only two carries, it's hard to make much of a conclusion about that area. The right side, consisting of Levi Brown and Duece Lutui, struggled a bit though contributing with between 4.0 and 4.14 yards per carry.

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Thoughts? Is one game enough to make any conclusions about the offensive line or do we need to look at this every week to see if there's a pattern?

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Interesting

Nice work, CG. Hard to tell though with one game if it shows our strengths on a given side of the line or the strengths & weaknesses of the opposing defense.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Sep 23, 2008 1:58 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah

can you populate the entire season to give us a better idea of their successes.

by hevchv on Sep 23, 2008 4:42 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

yea that's something I'll have to work on

and I can update the stats each week.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Sep 24, 2008 5:25 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Center

Do you think missing A. Johnson at center might be a factor in not running up the middle? Just curious.

by KDean75 on Sep 24, 2008 7:48 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's tough to say

My initial thought would be no but like Hevchv and AJ said above, it’s hard to tell with just one game. If I’m making any conclusions from this game, I’d probably say that the plan was to run directly at Andre Carter and Jason Taylor. They are the Skins best pass rushers and running directly at them could have worn them down. That’s purely a guess but it makes some sense (at least in my rat-nest of a brain).

We’ll see what the compiled stats look like though, that could shed some light on your question.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Sep 24, 2008 8:09 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did you mean it was a factor in not running "well" up the middle?

The carries by direction are spread fairly even compared to my recent memory. Before it seemed like they ran it behind the center and guards too often. I think mixing up the direction a little more than they have done in the past is only helping the run game.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Sep 25, 2008 6:15 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

agree

with both AJ and cgolden’s thoughts. I’d try to run at speed rushers to slow them down and tire them out.
Other factor (keep in mind, i’ve yet to actually see a Cards game this season), is HIghtower able to get to the corner easier than Edge? Edge more effective up the middle, or running of more stretch plays?

by KDean75 on Sep 25, 2008 9:15 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

that's a pretty good question

I’d say that Hightower looks a bit faster than Edge but honestly you can tell that he’s not much faster a quick linebacker (at least in my opinion). I will say he gets to his top speed quicker than Edge and he makes pretty decisive cuts. That has helped him turn the corner a couple of times but they’re both better suited to be between or right behind the tackles.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Sep 25, 2008 9:55 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really wish they would activate

JJ. He was far too impressive in the preseason to ignore and we need the homerun speed that he brings to the table. Plus, Breaston’s kick returning skills are not near as impressive this season and I want to see what JJ does in that catagory.

by boogatt66 on Sep 25, 2008 1:56 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs