Thread: Has the RB Position Lost it's Value?...................

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I'm not sure any NFL team is saying they're using a ground attack at the expense of the passing attack. There are no "3 yards and a cloud of dust" type of teams anymore. At least I can't think of any. Everyone wants to pass effectively. So the article is kind of stupid IMHO.

It's not an "either or" situation. Obviously you don't over-invest in any position on the roster, and try to get the best overall team talent to win a Super Bowl. Yes, it's a passing game first now.

But that doesn't mean you don't need the ABILITY to effectively run the football too. It is still important to be able to run in certain situations effectively (first downs, goal line situations, running out the clock with a lead late in the game, helping with time-of-possession to keep the OTHER team's offense off of the field & to rest YOUR defense, etc etc etc. Perhaps the MOST important aspect of having a decent run game is to keep opposing defenses honest. If you are a "one trick pony" offense, you will eventually LOSE important games NEEDLESSLY. It's just one more weapon. Having the best weapons to kill defenses is a "good thing" not a liability.

You may not need an Adrian Peterson, but you do need a decent level of talent at the RB position.

The team with the best & most powerful array of weapons is the team that you want to have each year. Yes, one-trick-pony teams CAN win. But that is never the "ideal" but just a "necessary evil" sometimes.

Well said 99. No matter what you lead with there will be times when you'll need a good running game to accomplish the purpose. Teams throw a lot more on third and short than they used to because they don't have confidence enough in their running attack to pick up crucial yardage.

Hopefully that's something we won't be forced to do. I never want to see a Bears team desert the run and over play the passing game. That's never been the style of play in Chicago and playing in that climate I can't see how it ever will. Granted were much better prepared for bad weather passing than we ever have been before but we still need to run a decent ball control offense at times and staying on the ground successfully is how that's done.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

Sooner or later there will be a team lauded for running the ball b/c they also can defend the pass so well and control both the tempo and the dynamic.

I hope that's the Bears shorty. It would be nice to have teams copying our offense for a change. I'd vote for one just like we had in the mid 80's. If you tried to bottle up Payton and Suhey then Mac could pass over he top. If you dropped your Safeties back to double Gault and McKinnon then Walter and Matt Suhey would run up 150-200 yards on the ground.

Everybody talks about that great Bears defense but that offense was pretty potent too. The Bears led the league in scoring in 85 and probably could have scored even more if Ditka hadn't been so conservative.

Originally Posted by soulman

Well said 99. No matter what you lead with there will be times when you'll need a good running game to accomplish the purpose. Teams throw a lot more on third and short than they used to because they don't have confidence enough in their running attack to pick up crucial yardage.

Hopefully that's something we won't be forced to do. I never want to see a Bears team desert the run and over play the passing game. That's never been the style of play in Chicago and playing in that climate I can't see how it ever will. Granted were much better prepared for bad weather passing than we ever have been before but we still need to run a decent ball control offense at times and staying on the ground successfully is how that's done.

I'm excited this year due to the fact there should be a synergy effect with a solid passing game helping our run game. And if we rip some defenses with nice runs, then this will in turn help the passing game. One feeds the other. The result is one heck of a powerful offense.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Again I'll point out basic strategy, Rules now favor QB/WR's in how D's can defend or attack them meaning that the best way to stop the QB/WR combo is to have a way to keep them off the field. Best way to do that....the run game. Ya it hasn't changed yet, and it doesn't mean you need the ELITE rb, but it does mean you need the competent run game. And it does mean that RB's will regain their value sooner then later.

Look back to this past year as a perfect example. Balt(did it w/the same way they've done it for years D and run)/SF(beat NO's who had the better qb/wr's)/Hou(on it's 3rd qb passed Cincy and held it's own vs Balt)/NY(beat GB and NE the best passing O's in the game). Common to all of them balanced O's that can pass and run as well as dominant D's that sack and hurry the qb, even if they don't get to. And they did it 2 years ago also. So although you don't need an "elite" rb, you don't need an "elite" QB or WR's either. I don't look at Manning as elite; at least not as elite as Brady/Rodgers. I don't look at their WR's as elite as either of those two teams groups either.

What you do need is a O that can run or pass and attack the weaknesses of the D they are facing on a given week.

Hey Ric,
I just realized I clicked the "Dislike" on this post by accident earlier today. I meant to click the "Beardown"......Sorry about that. Can't even click a button right anymore

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Ric this post has the fingerprints of a crackhead all over it.

EManning > Rodgers
EManning OWNS Tom Brady

No NY > GB and NY Owns NE. BIG DIFF. only moron's think otherwise.

Just when I think your posts couldn't get worse.

Brady and NE 3 sb wins 5x afc championships(5 sb's), brady 2x sb mvp, 2x nfl mvp, 2x offensive mvp 3x O player of the year, 7 pro bowls comeback player of the year, 2000's all nfl team. And Brady's been doing it w/out a D or run game to fall back on.

Eli and NY, 2 sb wins, 2 nfc champs(2 sb's) 2x sb mvp, 2 pro bowls. they aren't even in the same fucking class you tool.

Rodgers NY, 1 sb win1 nfc champs 1 sb, 2 pro bowls, nfl mvp, sb mvp, single season QB record, AP athlete of the year, Fed Ex air player of the year Only player in NFL HISTORY to throw 4K yards in his first 2 years as a starting qb, Only player in HISTORY to throw for 45 TD's and less then 6 int's in a season. only thing Eli has on Rodges is a 2nd sb win; but only a fucking tard thinks sb rings = > qb ability.

Eli's a hell of a QB, but he in the back of the elite pack w/Big Ben(2 sb's also) b/c they both need complete teams around them to get enhanse their abilities where Brady and Rodgers have the ability to raise everyone else up and win dispite a lack of a run game or elite D's.