Mark Schlereth: A Strong Run Game is Still Vital

KRLD-FM / 105.3 The Fan

Former NFL lineman and current FOX game analyst Mark Schlereth is still a BIG believer in how a commitment to the run opens up an offense, regardless of the yards per carry gained.

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00:00Obviously, Mike McCarthy's had a lot of success in this league, and last year, they had, you know, they had

00:05far more success last year than they've had this year so far.

00:09But I think one of the things that you always have to kind of look at

00:14is, one, how committed you are to running the football and how good you are at running the football.

00:20And in a day and age, you know, when everybody poo-poos the run game, and it's a passing league, you know, and you've got

00:26the overpay wide receivers, and you've got to do this, that, and the other, and, you know, and that's the narrative that's out there.

00:34People don't really understand the value of imposing your will upon people and running the football and attempts.

00:40And one of the things I always talk about, you know, when I'm talking to coaches or when I'm talking to people in general,

00:46is the attempts become a really big thing to me.

00:50And it's really hard for a coach to understand the value of attempts, how it slows down a pass rush,

00:58how it creates opportunities in the play-action game.

01:01And a lot of coaches, if they get a two-yard gain and a three-yard gain and then a two-yard gain and a one-yard gain,

01:07that's their first five runs, they throw their hands up and say, screw it, we're not going to do it anymore.

01:12And yet, they'll throw 70 completions in a row and not even think twice about it.

01:16It just makes no sense to me because you've got to change your attitude and your mentality.

01:22Listen, if you can applaud a two-yard run as long as it's physical and you're beating the snot out of people,

01:29then you know that eventually it will have, you know, it will pay dividends.

01:34But people aren't patient enough to do it in this league.

01:37And that's where you get these offenses that are just putrid because they won't commit to it.

01:43And I'll go back to Washington against Cincinnati.

01:45As good as that offense was in that Cincinnati game, and they were outstanding,

01:50do you know that their lead running back averaged two yards a carry and he still got 16 carries?

01:57Yeah.

01:58And then the other running backs got, you know, a handful of carries each.

02:01And at the end of the day, with their quarterback and their two running backs, actually three running backs,

02:06I think they ended up getting like 25 total carries in a game where they're averaging two yards a carry.

02:12Like there is, that's a commitment to run in the game.

02:16And you'd think that had an effect on the play action.

02:18You'd think that had an effect on the ball over the top.

02:20You're damn right it did.

02:21So did the quarterback runs.

02:23But like there's so few coaches that will even get, they will even do that.

02:27They were like, they'll throw their, they can't wait to throw their hands up in the air and go, well, we can't run it.

02:31So let's throw it on every single possession.

02:33And then your offensive line gets trucked in.

02:36Because there's no offensive line that can stand up for 40 pass plays in a row.

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