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The conditions are ripe for running.(NFL)
There was a time when 1,000 rushing yards meant something. As recently as 1994, only 10 players reached that milestone. This season, seven players already have more than 1,000 yards, and the number could be 20 by the end of the season. The Ravens' Jamal Lewis has a shot at 2,000.
Rushing averages are soaring, too. Several of these guys are averaging almost 5 yards a carry or better. It used to be that if you got 4 yards a carry, you were a great back.
The glut of 1,000-yard runners is not a new phenomenon. Double-digit totals have been common since the '80s, and there have been at least 13 in each of the last eight seasons. Since 1978 (the year the NFL expanded from 14 to 16 games), a better benchmark for greatness probably is 1,400 yards--almost 90 per game.
I don't think the pendulum will start swinging the other way any time soon--especially with tackling seemingly getting worse all the time. If anything, the number will increase, even with the apparent growth of spread offenses.
You'd think that spread offenses primarily benefit quarterbacks and receivers, but when defenses are spread out, running backs have more open field to attack. The shift in the league lately, however, has been to pull those offenses back in. We're seeing more bunch formations, which provide a stronger wall in front of runners. And while plenty of alignments still feature four or more receivers, they tend to use base personnel. A running back would rather have a tight end in front of him than a 170-pound No. 4 receiver. The number of great tight ends in the league continues to grow, too, and that means better blocking on the edge.
It helps when defenses focus on stopping the pass. Teams say their first priority is stopping the run, but it isn't. If it were, you'd have bigger run stoppers on the field than 250-pound ends and 230-pound middle linebackers. Defenses also are using more zone blitzes in an attempt to generate a pass rush. If a team drops an end or tackle into coverage and you run at that ...
- Mississippi St. RB Anthony Dixon arrested
- News wire article from: AP Online July 20, 2009 700+ words
Police say Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon was arrested over the weekend and charged with driving under the influence. An arrest report from the Starkville Police Department says officers found Dixon intoxicated late Saturday night with two empty champagne bottles on the floor of his
- I've Heard the Vultures Singing.(Brief article)(Book review)
- Newspaper article from: Internet Bookwatch September 1, 2007 700+ words
I've Heard the Vultures Singing Lucia Perillo Trinity...winning poet Lucia Perillo presents I've Heard the Vultures Singing: Field Notes on...diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; I've Heard the Vultures Singing recounts the difficulty...
- So I've Heard.(So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic)(Brief...
- Newspaper article from: Internet Bookwatch September 1, 2006 700+ words
...Plains, NJ 07444 1574671332 $24.95 amadeuspress.com So I've Heard: Notes Of A Migratory Music Critic comes from a music critic...musicians in different settings both on stage and off, So I've Heard provides a set of rich insights on musicians, their inspirations...
- I've heard the mermaids singing.
- Magazine article from: National Review Simon, John October 23, 1987 700+ words
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing "ODYSSEUS HEARD the sirens; they were singing...Australian poet John Manifold. The unseen mermaids in Patricia Rozema's I've Heard the Mermaids Singing regale the heroine, Polly, with a selection...
- So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic.(Book review)
- Magazine article from: Notes Mehrens, Christopher E. June 1, 2007 700+ words
So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic. By Alan Rich. Milwaukee, WI...Coast critic Alan Rich's latest book found its way to my desk. So I've Heard: Notes of a Migratory Music Critic is an extraordinary collection of...
- Toll collectors say they've heard every excuse in the book.(Knight Ridder...
- Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Vorderbrueggen, Lisa February 28, 2002 700+ words
...or children) took all my money out of my wallet." "I've heard it all," said Lt. Ron Reed, a 39-year veteran of Bay...is dying." "It goes on and on. If they can tell it, I've heard it," Reed said. An incredible average of 200 drivers a day...
- Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes
- Magazine article from: The Stranger Constant, Paul July 17, 2008 700+ words
Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes by Jim Holt (Norton...biography of Groucho Marx by Stefan Kanfer from 2001. Stop Me If You've Heard This is the newest in an explosion of skinny, pocket-size books...
- Scott Skiles not always what you've heard and seen.
- Newspaper article from: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) November 27, 2003 700+ words
...supposed to be the Zen master, yet some of the most foul and damning language I've heard in huddles and some of the most technical basketball direction I've heard has come from Jackson. But he practices yoga, so he's some sort of basketball...
