A few weeks ago, we broke down some rushing stats for Matt Forte, focusing on the success he was having in each hole, as well as the "by down" success rate (1st down runs, 2nd down, etc.).
Since then, we've played four more games, and have seen a change at the left guard position during that time. Josh Beekman replaced Frank Omiyale after the game in Cincinnati... we've updated our numbers, so come inside and take a look.
First, a look at the 4 games since the last article was written.
In those 4 games, Matt Forte has rushed the ball 57 times for 188 yards (3.3 avg) and 2 TDs. Where is he running the ball?
LE: 8 rushes/ 42 yds/ 0 TDs/ 2 first down runs/ 5.25 avg
LT: 2 rushes/ 1 yd/ 0 TDs/ 0 first down runs/ 0.5 avg
LG: 15 rushes/ 77 yds/ 1 TD/ 3 first down runs/ 5.13 avg
Mid: 8 rushes/ 9 yds/ 0 TDs/ 1 first down run/ 1.13 avg
RG: 14 rushes/ 43 yds/ 1 TD/ 1 first down run/ 3.07 avg
RT: 7 rushes/ 13 yds/ 0 TDs/ 0 first down runs/ 1.86 avg
RE: 3 rushes/ 15 yds/ 0 TDs/ 0 first down runs/ 5.0 avg
Now, these numbers do not necessarily tell the complete story... for example: @ Cincy, Forte only ran the ball 6 times, and vs Arizona, only 5 times. Therefore, most of the work came in the other two games, vs Cleveland and @ San Francisco.
And, just for comparison's sake, here are these breakdowns from the first time we looked at them:
LE: 12 rushes/ 64 yds/ 1 TD/ 1 first down run/ 5.33 yd avg. (includes a 37 yard TD run)
LT: 12 rushes/ 23 yds/ 0 TD/ 0 first downs/ 1.92 yd avg.
LG: 16 rushes/ 85 yds/ 0 TDs/ 2 first downs/ 5.31 yd avg. (includes a 61 yard run)
Mid: 18 rushes/ 40 yds/ 0 TDs/ 2 first downs/ 2.22 yd avg.
RG: 14 rushes/ 40 yds/ 0 TDs/ 3 first downs/ 2.8 yd avg.
RT: 5 rushes/ 24 yds/ 0 TDs/ 1 first down/ 4.8 yd avg.
RE: 9 rushes/ 19 yds/ 0 TDs/ 0 first downs/ 2.11 yd avg.
Now, let's combine these two pieces, and get a summary of what Forte has done through 9 games this season.
LE: 20 rushes/ 106 yds/ 1 TD/ 5.3 avg
LT: 14 rushes/ 24 yds/ 0 TDs/ 1.71 avg
LG: 31 rushes/ 162 yds/ 1 TD/ 5.23 avg
Mid: 26 rushes/ 49 yds/ 0 TDs/ 1.88 avg
RG: 28 rushes/ 83 yds/ 1 TD/ 2.96 avg
RT: 12 rushes/ 37 yds/ 0 TDs/ 3.08 avg
RE: 12 rushes/ 34 yds/ 0 TDs/ 2.83 avg
The left guard and left end spots are still benefitting greatly from the long run Forte had, but since we covered that in the first article, I won't look at it too much today.
I will say, however, that our OL remains our largest issue on offense. With our season basically on the line this week (if it is still alive at all), we have to expect to see some changes, and some wrinkles, from Ron Turner. Because if we continue to do what we have been doing all along, we will continue to get the same results that we have seen so far.
I'm no NFL coach, and I certainly don't pretend to know more than Turner... but when you look at how poor our OL is performing, I would think that we would need to do something different.