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Redskins running back Alfred Morris gained 121 on 25 carries in his week one match-up against the Dolphins' defense. Morris finished with an average of 4.8 yards per carry, churning out closer to 6 yards per carry in the first quarter.
Jaguars RB T.J. Yeldon has an opportunity to touch numbers like these in week two.
The Dolphins' defensive line will line up opposite of the Jaguars young backfield at 4:05pm on Sunday afternoon. A week removed from getting slapped in the face by a shaky Redskins' O-line, Ndamukong Suh and his teammates will be hungry for redemption.
If the Jaguars can turn Suh into a non-factor like Washington was able to do, that hunger may go unsatisfied.
It's difficult to try and twist a 110 million dollar name into a non-factor while looking ahead, but if you look into the recent past, that's exactly what the Redskins were able to do. Suh collected two worthless tackles this past Sunday. He was a non-factor, but only because Washington made him into one.
It's only fitting that I'm about to break down the Miami D-line getting bulldozed during a week where Jags fans are frenziedly calling for a more substantial running game. It's safe to assume that, if all goes according to plan, we will see a substantial amount of T.J. Yeldon and Denard Robinson on Sunday.
Still, it will take a precise, assertive assault to create any kind of momentum on the ground. The Miami D-line is a heavy-set beast, and to confront it, you must first game-plan for the greatest of all on-field evils.
Basically, run away from Suh.
The Redskins lost on Sunday. But they hung around for a long time and controlled the flow of the game by going hard after the Dolphins' D-line early and often. On the first drive of the game, the Skins very clearly funneled their efforts into making Suh kiss the turf.
Here's the very first play from that game:
The Redskins are going to run Morris through the B gap on the left side, avoiding Suh (circled in red) on the right. But running away from Suh isn't the only component to their game-plan.
Immediately at the snap, the right tackle cuts Suh down.
Suh is now completely out of the play. Morris doesn't rip the play open, but he gains 5 yards on a sequence that sets up the overall flow of the entire game. There's nothing sophisticated going on here -- just assignments being met and Suh being taken care of.
On the very next run play, the Skins contain Suh once again.
This time, the Kkins are going to run from shotgun.
Not looking to get cut down again, Suh extends to penetrate instead of trying to explode through the gap. The right guard gets a piece of Suh, then releases to the second level.
Suh's momentum is used against him, and he gets shoved to the ground once again. Morris cuts and breaks off 9 more yards.
Suh was cut down 3 times, and shoved into the dirt on one other occasion -- on the first drive.
He was a non-factor for the entire game.
The Skin's gameplan was simple, and it worked for the majority of the game. I'm not saying the Jaguars will win on Sunday with such a gameplan, as the Jaguars' offense is laid out much differently than Washington's. But the Jags will have a very good shot at staying in the game if Yeldon and Denard Robinson can carry the load.
Likewise, if the Jaguars can stay in the game, their rushing attack has a very good shot of being utilized more than it was last week.
Still, it'll be interesting to see what direction the Jags favor running early on Sunday -- the side opposite of Suh, or behind Linder and Parnell on the right.
Either way, If the Jaguars can build some kind of momentum on the ground, the benefit will be shared by the entire team. The Jaguars can control the clock, take pressure off of the QB, and add another dimension to the game that showed up at times last year and is supposed to be a huge part of the team's identity this year.
If the Jaguars can contain Suh, the run game has an opportunity to look like this more often on Sunday:
There is no reason why the Jags backs can't mirror the success that the Redskins uncovered on the ground.