LongLiveRalph Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 From Bill Barnwell at ESPN: McFadden's raw line looks great. He picked up 166 yards on only 21 carries, averaging nearly 8 yards per carry. It was an awesome day for fantasy teams, but merely good for the Raiders. Fifty of McFadden's yards came on one carry, and 136 of them on five. The rest of the day, McFadden ran 16 times for a total of 30 yards. That means countless second-and-10 and third-and-9 situations that put JaMarcus Russell in an extremely difficult position all day long. The Raiders gave the ball to McFadden eight times on second down with between 6 and 10 yards to go; in those situations, he gained 2, 2, 1, 2, -2, 24, 2, and 5 yards. The big play certainly is nice, but unless McFadden becomes more consistent in gaining positive yardage, he'll become a very overrated back very quickly -- and Russell will have many more days when he goes 6-for-17. McFadden also needs to work on his hands: He fumbled twice. That 50-yard gain would not have seemed so special if the Chiefs had picked up the ball at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndZoneCrew Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 stats are stats......so he is like Adam Dunn of the Arizona Diamondbacks (HR, K,K,K,K,HRK,K).....all or nothing.....results are results and he is still dangerous.....21 for 166 still is impressive to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 A lot of good RB's are like this-- 2 yds, 2 yds, 50 yds. At the end of the day, you can't discount 160+ yards, no matter how he got them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveRalph Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 stats are stats......so he is like Adam Dunn of the Arizona Diamondbacks (HR, K,K,K,K,HRK,K).....all or nothing.....results are results and he is still dangerous.....21 for 166 still is impressive to me! I agree. 8 ypc is what it is. I think the point is less a reflection on McFadden- every team would take 166 from their RB- and more a reflection on Russell. Basically, after a touchback, McFadden's 50-yard gain would get you to the opponent's 30. Then what? A 2-yard gain, a 1-yard gain, and a Russell incompletion on 3rd & 7. 136 yds on 5 carries is the reason McFadden got drafted so high. 16 yds on 30 carries is why Russell had such an awful game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveRalph Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 A lot of good RB's are like this-- 2 yds, 2 yds, 50 yds. At the end of the day, you can't discount 160+ yards, no matter how he got them. Can't discount them for the runner, I agree. You can discount them in that he was putting his young QB in 3rd & 7+ way too often. But I agree. Barry Sanders was the least of the Lions' problems when he was going 2, 2, -3, 1, 66. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 "and 136 of them on five." That sounds particularly dangerous to me. That means he also had 5 more runs for an average of 27 yds a piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Can't discount them for the runner, I agree. You can discount them in that he was putting his young QB in 3rd & 7+ way too often. But I agree. Barry Sanders was the least of the Lions' problems when he was going 2, 2, -3, 1, 66. I wonder if it's the other way around-- the QB is causing him to get these piddly carries. I've got to think there are 8-9 guys in the box against the Raiders since I don't think teams fear Russell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Barry Sanders was the least of the Lions' problems when he was going 2, 2, -3, 1, 66. Exactly. What RB is going to gain 150+ yards without ripping off some long runs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongLiveRalph Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 I wonder if it's the other way around-- the QB is causing him to get these piddly carries. I've got to think there are 8-9 guys in the box against the Raiders since I don't think teams fear Russell. Very true. I know quarterbacking has become the most difficult job in sports, and nowadays QBs are barely given 10 starts before people declare them busts. However, it disgusts me when analysts/columnists harp on the fact that 3rd & 7 is a bad position to be in. When you draft a QB #1 overall, and pay him $50 million, I don't think its unreasonable to expect that he can convert an 8-yard pass on occasion. Complex defenses, coverages, and blitzes have made life tough on young QBs. And I know that sitting in 3rd & 8 all day is not a recipe for success (just ask a vet like Hasselback how week 1 went at the Ralph.) But somehow, "good quarterbacking" has become more about throwing the ball away, not getting sacked, and hitting the safety valve for four yards. Even if McFadden is getting stuffed, he's going to make something happen eventually. You'd like to think your QB could do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devldog131 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I think we are all forgetting who he got those yards against. The lowly Kansas City Chefs(yes, I know chiefs has an i in it). KC is one of the weakest teams in the league, as evidenced by another of the weakest teams in the league hung 23 pts and 300 rushing yards on them. McNugget won't do nearly as well against a team with even a mediocre defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermike Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 It looks like McFadden got beat up pretty badly by the defensive line, but then got away from the secondary when he did break through. This is because the Chiefs have a terrible secondary - and linebacker corps, for that matter. A 30 yard gain against them is a 6 yard stop by Donte Whitner against us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StupidNation Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 136 yds on 5 carries is the reason McFadden got drafted so high. 16 yds on 30 carries is why Russell had such an awful game. Russell had an awful game for other reasons, namely missing his receivers by 3 and 4 feet consistently. I watched the game alongside the Bills. He was terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasoninMT Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 That reminds me of a former player who liked young girls... When we had a player who got nothing, nothing, nothing, BAM, nothing.... We said he was wearing down the defense... 166 yards is 166 yards... but, I don't think he'll put those numbers up at the Ralph... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Russell had an awful game for other reasons, namely missing his receivers by 3 and 4 feet consistently. I watched the game alongside the Bills. He was terrible. I haven't watched there first two games but I did see them a lot in pre season. He looked less than average every time I saw him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 So now a RB isn't doing a great job because he has lots of 2 yard runs? Newsflash - EVERY RB has lots of 2 yard runs. If McFadden was consistently running for 4 yards per carry in addition to his big plays the guy would be averaging almost 10 yards per carry instead of 7. Somehow people get it in there heads that because the league average per rush is 4 yards that EVERY run is supposed to go for a minimum of 4 yards. It just doesn't work that way. I also notice that the auther fails to mention that McFadden is averaging 7 ypa with no semblance of a passing game to help him out. But yeah, his 2 yard runs are a determent to his team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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