We’ve talked about the offensive line ad nauseum (Latin for “until it makes you barf on your pants”) here at Acme Packing Company, and every statistic we dig up is more ad nauseating than the last. I’ve mostly been focused on thepassing game because I will be sad if Jordan Love dies or becomes David Carr, but we should pay some attention to the running game as well.
The Packers have as of this moment gained 146 rushing yards in their three games this season, which is the third-lowest total over any
three game streak for the Packers since the merger. In fact, since the merger, the Packers have had only five spans of three games where they gained less than 150 rushing yards. It’s really four because two of those streaks from the 1990 season overlap, but still, it’s very bad. The most recent streak prior to this one was in 2006 when the Packer rushing attacked gained 47 yards on the ground against the Vikings, 44 yards against the Tom Brady Patriots in a 35-0 shellacking where Brett Favre was knocked out and replaced by a young Aaron Rodgers, and 51 yards against the Seahawks for a total of 142 yards.
The worst such streak occurred in 1990 among a time of desperation when Don Majkowski was not playing, and all of the terrible Packer running backs from the original Nintendo Tecmo Super Bowl were on the team. The streak, in which the Packers rushed for 127 yards over a three-game span, began on December 2nd in a 23-7 loss to the Vikings in an epic Anthony Dilweg versus Rich Gannon/Herschel Walker matchup.
For the Packers, first-round pick (19th overall) Darrell Thompson gained 17 yards on three carries (not bad!), Herman Fontenot gained 15 yards also on three carries (also not bad!), Plan B Free Agent acquisition Michael Haddix gained 10 yards on 6 carries (bad, and confusing!), and Keith Woodside gained six yards on 1 carry. Dilweg chipped in 11 yards on scrambles for a total of 59 yards. Why did Michael Haddix out-carry everyone else? Why did Anthony Dilweg attempt 29 passes in a game that was 6-0 at half time? Who knows, the Lindy Infante Packers were wild.
The Packers next dropped a 20-14 game against the Seattle Seahawks, who got 157 yards rushing from Derrick Fenner and John Williams on 33 carries. Countering the Seahawks’ attack, Haddix carried 4 times for 10 yards, Darrell Thompson chipped in 1 carry for 1 yard, and Mr. Woodside, took three carries for -3 yards. Quarterbacks (never a good sign when plural) Anthony Dilweg and Blair Kiel combined for 5 yards on the ground for a grand total of 13 yards on 10 carries.
And finally, the following week, the Packers lost 31-0 to Randall Cunningham and the Eagles. Did Randall outrush the entire Packer team? You bet! Did the Packers play two quarterbacks again? Also yes, as Kiel and Dilweg combined for 4 rushing yards. Also contributing were Michael Haddix who broke out with a robust 31 yards on 7 carries, while Darrell Thompson gained 9 yards on 6 carries. Herman Fontenot lost 7 yards on his one carry, and speedy white receiver Jeff Query took some kind of end around nonsense for a huge 18-yard gain. All told, the Packers gained 55 yards on the ground.
So basically, the current level of Packer futility running the ball is on par with an era where the Packers were splitting time with two backup quarterbacks and also between four running backs. It is really bad, and while I gave the 1990 Packers guff for relying so much on Michael Haddix, I would genuinely prefer Michael Haddix to Marshawn Lloyd, even though he’s 64 years old and holds the NFL record for fewest yards per carry for a player with at least 500 carries (really!).
Hopefully the new offensive line acquisitions this week matter, but the running backs were almost as bad and could stand some turnover as well.
