Dump the run, score some points!

I do think running the ball even when you are not getting a lot of yards helps rest your defense and wear out the other team's DL. If you have a good defense then you can win a lot of games as long as you do not make a lot of mistakes on offense. Passing is more dangerous than running and more likely to lead to mistakes. I still think we could have won four or five more games in 2001 if we had run the ball more once we had the lead. The game in Washington where Wienkie threw a pick when we were up 14-0 in the fourth that lead to a loss still irks me. Even little short passes to the fullback are more dangerous than running the ball.

All that being said the strenght of our offense is throwing the ball. The only thing it does well is throw. We have to ride Smith and try to spread the ball around enough to keep the defense honest on him.

 

Anyone else still in favor of dumping the run? These kinds of threads are why "fans" should either do some research before posting or just shut the hell up. Even a cursory examination of the games this season would have shown that we didn't do better when we ran less.

New Orleans - 25 rushes, 5.6 ypc, 20 points
New England - 36 rushes, 2.9 ypc, 27 points
Miami - 26 rushes, 2.3 ypc, 24 points
Green Bay - 33 rushes, 2.7 ypc, 32 points
Arizona - 27 rushes, 3.2 ypc, 24 points
Detroit - 25 rushes, 2.2 ypc, 21 points
Minnesota - 39 rushes, 2.8 ypc, 38 points
Tampa Bay - 32 rushes, 2.4 ypc, 27 points (on offense)
New York - 36 rushes, 2.8 ypc, 23 points (on offense)
Chicago - 16 rushes, 3.4 ypc, 3 points
Buffalo - 33 rushes, 3.4 ypc, 13 points
Atlanta - 34 rushes, 4.2 ypc, 24 points
Tampa Bay - 20 rushes, 4.1 ypc, 10 points
New Orleans - 43 rushes, 3.7 ypc, 27 points
Dallas - 24 rushes, 3.0 ypc, 20 points
Atlanta - 38 rushes, 6.0 ypc, 37 points (on offense)

Anyone notice anything about this list? Running the ball, even when we aren't doing it effectively, allows us to control time of possession and gives us a better chance both of scoring more points and of winning the game. The times where we gave up on the run were the games that we lost most embarrassingly.