I’m a football fan but not a huge football strategist and Ive always wondered something. Why does the running back still run directly into the pile when he’s sent up the middle when he has clearly had enough time to see that its a wall of people he’ll never get through? This is especially aggravating when I watch Bears games and watch Forte go up the middle 3 times in a row just to run into the pile of linemen and not get anywhere.
Basically I’m asking why, when given enough time to reroute, do running backs still plow into the pile?
Most players in the NFL do as they are told. There are only a handful who have the green light to improvise against the game plan. Even if the player knows there’s no hole, if they disobey the coaches, there’s a good chance that they will get benched or blacklisted in the future as “uncoachable.”
The run through the line has several advantages: Running up and down is less likely to lose yardage than running left to right. It is most consistent in gaining 3-4 yards. Also, it’s possible that the RB plus the linemen can “move the pile” i.e. be heavier than the defenders, thus allowing them to gain a few more inches.
Also, it seems to me that running through the middle is safer. RB’s tend to get hurt when hit by safeties who have a full head of steam.
One thing to keep in mind is that when the coach (or sometimes, the quarterback) calls that play, that’s the play they want. There may well be a reason to attempt a run up the middle. It may not be one you or even the running back agrees with, but most of the time that’s not the point.
The coach may even know it will likely fail on a particular down. But in a game where the big plays can often make up for a few failures, that is often all part of the plan. A team that does nothing but try to improvise something out of every play may well win, but they will probably need excellent athletes to do so. A stronger coach could probably run a better game with the same players.
If the play works as planned, by the time the running back gets to the wall, there will be a place to run through.
Wait . . . the Bears? Never mind.
In seriousness, if the RB jukes around behind the line of scrimmage, unless he’s Barry Sanders or somebody he is far more likely to lose more yards that way than by following the play. If the play works, big gain; if the play doesn’t work, small or no loss. If the RB starts going sideways, he’s more likely to take a big loss.
First, often times they just run forward because they only want a yard or two. If it’s 3rd-and-1, just one measly yard (three feet) is all they want. Sometimes they’ll get stuffed but you usually don’t know that until it’s far to late to do anything about it.
Breaking the run outside could lead to a huge gain, but more likely it would lean to being caught at the line or in the backfield for a 2-3 yard loss. If you look at the location of the defensive linemen, they would just pull off their block and tackle the back before he got anywhere. On 3rd-and-1 that would mean 4th-and-4 and your team punts instead of a First Down. Occasionally a designed play makes this work but it usually involves a pitch or a throw to give the RB a head start in getting to the corner.
My BIL is a great guy but is NOT a sports man (he skipped our college games for Robotics Club). In his first game he asked in earnest, “Why doesn’t he just run where there’s no people?” :smack:
I always wondered if the runningback could benefit by jumping over the pile, maybe even having one of the linemen hold his hands out to help him launch, say if it’s one yard to the goal line. Has this ever been tried? (Bear in mind I haven’t watched football in a long time).
Even if there’s no hole, it’s still usually easier to minimze the damage by following the blockers where the play is designed to go. It may look like it should be easier to bounce it outside and get around the corner, but defensive pursuit in the NFL is extremely fast, and trying to bounce outside usually just increases the chances of getting tackled in the backfield. Better a 1 yard gain or a no yard gain than a tackle for a 5 yard loss. There are a few backs who are fast enough and elusive enough to break off designed run and still get something out of it. Barry Sanders would be the canonical example, but even he got caught in the backfield a lot.
Sometimes you see backs come into the league who are accustomed to being able to get around the corners in college, but find out the hard way that NFL linebackers are a hell of a lot faster than college linebackers (Reggie Bush comes to mind).
Huh. Back when I still watched, through the early 90s, it didn’t seem common at all to me then.
In the video linked here, it looked like all the linemen were pretty low to the ground – is that part of the offensive play? I don’t suppose the blockers are allowed to physically grab the defensive linemen and pull them down, but do they do they use some technique to push them lower to the ground?
I think the O-line just gets low and blocks. If the D-line tries to stand up high, the O-line will undercut them and knock them down. So the D-line has to get a little bit low as well to fight off the block.
Stereotypical series of Barry Sanders carries:
1 yard, 2 yards, 0 yards, -4 yards, 2 yards, 40 yards.
There don’t seem to be many backs today who regularly attempt to leap over the pile, esp. in goal-line situations. It was something that Walter Payton and Marcus Allen excelled at, but it might be a bit of a lost art now.
It’s just running and jumping. Not a particular high form of art. The leap has to be called, as the linemen must cut their opponents. It does seem that has gone by the wayside. Why? I’m not particularly sure, but it does seem like finding a seem and just blasting through it is more effective.
To answer the OP, just running into the pile does work sometimes. The line isn’t static, and you+your linemen might be enough to push the pile a couple yards. And realistically, this doesn’t happen all that often. It only happens when the run is completely stuffed. Normally if the called hole is stuffed, the running back finds a cut back lane and goes through there. As mentioned previously, anything more than one cut back is a recipe for failure as the safeties are coming into the picture, and the defenders have more time to get off their blocks.
With regard to the leaping, it’s generally less common now because the chance of injury increases considerably whenever a player leaves his feet. Players these days are much more aware of their chances for injury and, along with their enormous contracts and limited time, they are less willing to risk it.
With regard to the OP, there’s a lot of reasons.
Part of the problem is the perspective on TV. It may look like a pile because of the side angle, but if you were looking from behind, you might be able to see a larger hole than you’d think.
Running plays up the middle are also generally very fast developing, as such, the running back is probably only a couple steps away from the hole before he can even really read whether or not it’s there. With that kind of momentum, that close to the line, making last second adjustments are likely to stall him enough to get stopped for less than just going forward and taking what’s there.
Along the lines of the above, often going against the design of the play is worse because the linemen are blocking assuming the runner will run in a certain spot. As such, there may be no gain going up the middle, but if he tries to scoot outside, the defender that is blocked relative to that hole is now essentially unblocked, and so he’s much more likely to shed the block and tackle him for a loss. Worse, assuming the defense is disciplined, the outside containment and pursuit is often only a couple steps behind, and that stutter can easily not only get them tackled for a loss, but potentially blindsided with a full head of steam.
Running plays up the middle generally intended to get a lot of yardage but, instead, are expected to get consistent results; being fairly confident you can get 2-3 yards is often far better than being just as likely to get 12 yards as a 5 yard loss. Similar circumstances happen on kick-off and punt returns, where some runners will consistently get a good return just running straight up, and others will give ground, sometimes coming up with something spectacular, and sometimes losing a bunch of yardage. It’s always risky.
:smack: