As many of you saw today, even against a defense that has given up big yardage on the ground so far this year, our running game still couldn't do much. Mainly because Ahman is out, but Dayne and Gado aren't cutting it by themselves. We do have Darius Walker on the practice squad and could call him up and give him a shot. I personally thought he looked pretty good in the limited preseason action he saw. Even if Green does return next week, I doubt he would get but half of the carries which could give some of them to Walker and some others to Dayne or Gado. Who knows he could turn out to be a good #2 back for us. What do you guys think?
While Dayne isn't a great back or anything, the O-Line isn't opening up any holes to run through. When Gado came in, he got some yards by cutting back instead of going to first option every time. Then they started getting a "few" more yards instead of getting stuffed at the line. But still, the OL isn't making holes where the play is designed to go.
i understand that dayne is slow but i think green couldnt do much better...yea he will make a few more cuts that will get some more yards...but i think what would help the most is andre johnson getting healthy quick so we can spread the field taking defensive players out of the box leading to a better running game
Dayne does not have any type of explosion at all. The OL isn't doing a good job of making holes, but it just takes Dayne too long to get there anyways. I want to say that we just need Green back, but our performance against the worst run defense in the NFL was pathetic.
Schaub threw for 300+ last week and almost had 300 this week. It doesn't look like we can rely on the pass to open up the run. Besides, that won't help at the goal line when everyone expects you to run it.
Dayne is a short yardage power back and that's where he should be used. He is not a 1st option type I think Gado has better speed and should not be behind Dayne. From what I saw of Darius Walker he looked good and I think he should be given a chance to show what he can do. He can't be much worst than what we've seen out of Dayne so far.
I agree about McKinney. Without him the holes have lost half their size and the running game in between the tackles is almost nonexistant. I don't blame Dayne or Green being out or any of that stuff. I blame the whole freakn thing. From the coach calling the plays to the O-Line. heck even Schaub could do better acting job on the roll out. It's almost as if they are pretending to have a running game, just to setup the play action pass.
Dayne is just way too slow. by the time he gets to the line of scrimmage, the defense has already had enough time to react to his "cut." Maybe they should give Domanick Williams a call
Dayne needs a full head of steam to be affective, and that's the problem. We have no holes for him to go through and get up to speed. He simply is too slow to stop and start or try to bounce something outside. I think Walker could help, but the coaches must think otherwise if he continues to stay on the practice squad.
In my opinion, our running game is a problem because of two main reasons. First, our primary RB is not playing and Dayne, Gado can not get you that running game. Second, we are missing our top tiers recievers. Teams like ATL, and Miami didn't respect our passing game. You can see in both of our last games. ATL and Miami attacked our running game which also caused many sacks. So if our recievers come back to play i think it will open up the running game that we saw earlier in the season.
Slightly off-topic, but I really think Tashard Choice (Georgia Tech) would absolutely excel in this 1-cut system.. I'm gonna go ahead and say it really early. We need to draft him.
Yep, it's a combination of a lot of things, not just one guys fault. But you can't discount the fact that, since McKinney went out, our running game has really fallen off. He had his best camp ever this summer and was off to a great start before he got hurt. We really need Green to come back as well.
Ron Dayne is the epitome of 3 yards and a cloud of dust. He broke off big runs in Denver, but Denver has better suited personnel, and much more experience running the cut-block system. Your Grandmother with a shot of adrenaline could plow through that Denver Line and hang a 100 yard game up on some unsuspecting defense. Also I don't think you can point to the Raiders game and say the rushing totals could have been on par. The Raiders only completed 5 passes in that game. The Dolphins were kicked while down repeatedly. Zach Thomas was back from injury and that pretty much took any chance of running all over the Dolphins away. Jason Taylor also played a lot better and got pressure on Schaub. Chester Pitts had a lousy day but all accounts. The Texans did what they had to do to lose the game, but they choked it away at the end thanks to some particularly miraculous kicking power by Kris Brown.
I think the addition of Zach Thomas to Miami's defense was greatly underestimated. I keep hearing that Dayne is a short yardage back. When in his career has that ever been true? He's never been the "run through you rather than around you" type. We need Green back more than ever...especially if we want to have a chance at beating J'ville and TN.
The problem with Dayne is that he cant CUT. Much like the Denver offensive schemes, so much of the running backs ability relies on making quick reads and cutting to the hole when open. Dayne is too big and too slow to make those cuts quick enough.
