I'm bored. It's the for real lockout. Nothing of merit is going to happen until June 3rd, and probably not even then will anything of merit happen. So, I figured I'd look and see how various players did week to week, based on where the opposing teams stacked up at the end of the season, defensively. I'm curious to see who feasted off the poor, and who went at it no matter the challenge. Typically, this first one would just be focused on Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, but he missed a few weeks to we need to count his back ups. We'll can't the player by who had the most carries in the game.
OPPONENT | PLAYER | RUSH DEF RANK | PRODUCTION |
Denver Broncos | Maurice Jones-Drew | 31st | 22c - 98yds |
at San Diego Chargers | Maurice Jones-Drew | 4th | 12c - 31yds |
Philadelphia Eagles | Maurice Jones-Drew | 15th | 22c - 88yds |
Indianapolis Colts | Maurice Jones-Drew | 25th | 26c - 105yds - 1TD |
at Buffalo Bills | Maurice Jones-Drew | 32nd | 19c - 84yds |
Tennessee Titans | Maurice Jones-Drew | 20th | 17c - 57yds |
at Kansas City Chiefs | Maurice Jones-Drew | 14th | 16c - 47yds |
at Dallas Cowboys | Maurice Jones-Drew | 12th | 27c - 135yds |
Houston Texans | Maurice Jones-Drew | 13th | 24c - 100yds - 2TD |
Cleveland Browns | Maurice Jones-Drew | 27th | 23c - 133yds - 1TD |
at New York Giants | Maurice Jones-Drew | 8th | 21c - 113yds |
at Tennessee Titans | Maurice Jones-Drew | 20th | 31c - 186yds |
Oakland Raiders | Maurice Jones-Drew | 29th | 23c - 101yds - 1TD |
Oakland Raiders* | Rashad Jennings | 29th | 5c - 109yds - 1TD |
at Indianapolis Colts | Maurice Jones-Drew | 25th | 15c - 46yds |
Washington Redskins | Rashad Jennings | 26th | 15c - 32yds |
at Houston Texans | Rashad Jennings | 13th | 22c - 108yds - 1TD |
*I included Jennings vs. Oakland because he went over 100 yards.
One thing that immediately stands out to me, is that the Jaguars faced only two defenses that finished in the Top 10 against the run. Against the Chargers, they couldn't run the ball at all. Against the Giants, they couldn't run the ball in the second half. Against the two top 10 rush defenses they faced, Maurice Jones-Drew was able to gain 144 yards on 33 carries, for 4.36 yards per carry. He gained 11% of his season total against top rushing defense, albeit only two games. The Jaguars were 0-2 against the Top 10 rush defenses they faced.
Jones-Drew faced 6 teams that ended up in the bottom 10 of the NFL in rush defense. In 4 of those 6 games, he rushed for over 100 yards (2 yards shy of 100 against Denver). He totaled 567 yards on 128 carries for 4.4 yards per carry. He racked up 43% of his season total rushing yards in only 6 games, against the bottom of the leagues rush defenses. The Jaguars also were 5-1 in these games, the only loss being to the Indianapolis Colts. He also scored 3 of his 5 rushing touchdowns against the bottom 10.
The remaining 54% of his yards and other 2 rushing touchdowns came in the other 6 games he played. Against the middle tier of rush defenses in the NFL, he gained 613 yards on 138 carries for 4.44 yards per carry. The Jaguars were 3-5 against the middle tier of the NFL's rush defenses.
Jones-Drew rushed for over 100 yards in only 6 of his 14 games. The Jaguars went 5-1 in those six games, losing to only the New York Giants.