Two Backs the Way to Go?

Pasquareilli looks at the question

New Orleans was one of three teams in 2009 with three running backs (Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush) who rushed for more than 300 yards each. A fourth team, the Cleveland Browns, had a trio of 300-yard rushers, but one of them was Josh Cribbs, who gained most of his yardage as a Wildcat quarterback. The three franchises with a trio of 300-yard backs all qualified for the playoffs.

But of the 12 clubs that had two backs run for more than 500 yards each in 2009, only five went to the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers, just the fifth team in history with a pair of 1,000-yard backs and a club that statistically ranked No. 3 in rushing yards, finished only 8-8. Five of the seven playoff teams that did not have two backs who ran for 500 yards apiece had tailbacks who owned 58 percent or more of their teams’ carries (excluding rushes by non-running backs). Three of those teams had individual backs who ran for 1,200 yards or more.