Vahey’s NFL Notebook: Todd Gurley’s Breakout, Bengals Backfield Breakdown, Power Rankings

It was an lackluster week in the NFL; A lot of sloppy football and ho-hum matchups. However, the picture has begun to get a bit clearer at the quarter pole of the season.

The biggest storyline, as of today, was the firing of Joe Philbin from the Dolphins. Interim Head Coach Dan Campbell will surely bring fire to this team, but the question remains: Is he ready? Here are some other observations from Week 4.

By: Matt and Mike Vahey

Welcome to the Show Todd Gurley

It took a game and a half, but Todd Gurley showed why the Rams were smart in both drafting the prized running back and working him in slowly as to not impede his progress from coming back from an ACL injury. All but two of his yards came in a dominant second half, and he gave us an inside look at how special he could be at this level.

Coming out of Georgia, the book on Gurley was that he was an incredibly powerful back who coupled this power with home-run threat speed. In college, we saw a decisive runner, who was excellent at converting speed to power, both inline and on the edge. One of our favorite traits was his desire to seek out extra yards, not shying away out of bounds. Many of these traits were evident in his 2^nd half takeover on Sunday.

Speed

While the ACL isn’t the career threatening injury it once was, for a Running Back it’s a tough one to recover from, particularly when you’re a back as physical as Gurley. However, a bigger test is regaining the speed prior to your injury, and Gurley showed on both his 52-yard run and his run to end the game that his speed should not be questioned.

Gurley sees the hole and explodes, hitting full speed in a short burst showing his acceleration and top end speed. Coming off an ACL, this is impressive, as his speed on this play clearly shows he has the ability to go the distance on any run. Equally impressive is how explosive Gurley looks as he hits the hole and sees daylight. These are great signs that he’s clearly getting back to full strength and potentially proving the Rams right in drafting him so early.

Power

Gurley’s style was oft-compared to Marshawn Lynch coming out of college. He’s the type of player willing to put his head down between the tackles and get physical, showing the ability to break arm tackles with ease and move the pile forward.

While his offensive line did a better job of opening up running lanes in the second half, Gurley showed his power on several occasions. On a first down run mid-way through the third, Gurley ran through several arm tackles, as well as falling forward for a twelve yard gain. It’s evident that players will need to wrap up against Gurley, as he’s too strong and powerful to go down so easily.

Decision Making

This is a bit two-fold. As a runner, Gurley makes quick decisions at full speed, but one knock is that he’ll look for cutback lanes when a cutback isn’t the answer. However, he’s a smart runner who’s careful with the football. The most impressive play, in our opinion, was a run to close out the game. Some runners would have gone out of bounds, but knowing the situation Gurley knew to stay in bounds and go down as to not put himself or the game in jeopardy.

Look for Gurley to keep this momentum going, as Jeff Fisher wants to control the clock and run the football. With each passing week, we expect Gurley to continue to get stronger and more comfortable, both with his knee as well as within the offense.

Bengals 1-2 Punch Breakdown

Going into the season, a lot of assumptions were that Jeremy Hill would be getting the bulk of the carries this year, and Giovani Bernard would be relegated to spot duty and the 3^rd down back. So far, that has not been the case, and many may say the Gio has been the more productive yardage wise, while the others will say Jeremy Hill reaches the end zone more often.

In any case, the Bengals seem to have found a great balance with these two running backs, using their contrasting running styles to their advantage and are off to a 4-0 start.

Below shows the breakdown of each’s usage throughout the game and their production in each.

Carries Break Down:

Receptions Break Down:

Total Touchdowns:

Jeremy Hill

Hill brings the power running game to the table when he is in the game. Hill is a downhill runner with great size and speed. He’s the back they tend to use more when they are running between the tackles and short yaradage, as he is very physical and has the ability to break arm tackles and push the pile. Hill also shows great vision as well when he is on the field, always keeps his legs moving. He is very decisive and can make one cut and accelerate as seen on the first touchdown of the game. He used all of the tools of his game to reach the end zone on this run.

Giovani Bernard

Gio is definitely the shiftier of the two backs, who can bounce it outside and get to the edge. While he has a little better acceleration than Hill, they won’t shy away from running him between the tackles. He showed this against the Chiefs where he took it behind right guard and exploded through the hole for a 13 yard touchdown. But Gio definitely will be used more in the shotgun, and will catch more passes than Hill throughout the season as well. He also has great vision, and his game was on display against the Chiefs.

Outside running ability:

Acceleration and Burst:

Other Notes:

1. The Falcons look unstoppable at this juncture, particularly when they run with the effectiveness they have the past two weeks. Devonta Freeman has emerged from the stable, but the team will be more deadly when Tevin Coleman.
2. Chris Ivory may be a one trick pony (and an injury waiting to happen at that), but he gashed the Dolphins defense to a career day. Ivory runs hard, and is perfectly suited for the Jets running attack.
3. Ryan Tannehill, though he was under siege most of the day, still needs to make better reads and recognize hot routes and blitzes. He was also poor on touch passes, and passes down the field. The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dolphins.
4. The Green Bay Packers continue to roll and Aaron Rodgers looks as comfortable and RELAXED as ever in the pocket. The Packer certainly seem like, at least for now, the class of the NFC.
5. Bill O’Brien and the Texans looked completely overmatched against the Falcons. Down 42-0, not even into the 4^th, the team needs to take a hard look at the direction they’re going. O’Brien should be thanking the 49ers and Dolphins for making bigger national headlines.
6. Cam Newton has continued to impress throughout the first four weeks of the season, leading the panthers to a 4-0 start in the first quarter of the season. He has done so with a very limited passing game, and has lead the way as well in the run game.
7. Jameis Winston, in the same game that Cam Newton continued to impress, Winston took 2 steps back, throwing 4 interceptions. His rookie campaign has been a roller coaster season thus far and has not shown a lot of consistency, which is to be expected for a rookie Quarterback.
8. In a game against the Packers, a game which they should have controlled the clock, the 49ers only gave 8 carries to Carlos Hyde. In the first week, Hyde had 26 carries and over 160 yards rushing, and the 49ers WON the game. In the three game since, he has a combined 36 carries and 114 yards. They need to give him the ball as Kaepernick continues to struggle.
9. Jason Kelce said it best, the Eagles offensive line has been less than stellar, or to quote Kelce a “Disgrace”. With another 5 sacks allowed and even more pressures, along with continuing to struggle in the run game, the Eagles offense cannot get off the ground. Things will need to turn around for the Eagles, and it all starts up front.
10. The Browns defense will need to start regrouping, as Philip Rivers carved them up this week with 358 yards passing, and moved the ball with ease throughout the game. The one strong unit for the Browns was supposed to be their D, as of right now it is not living up to expectations.

Power Rankings

1. New England Patriots (3-0)

On a bye week. Until the champs waver they should be #1.

2. Green Bay Packers (4-0)

As alluded to earlier, the Packers are the best team in the NFC. Also got a kick out of this.

3. Cincinnati Bengals (4-0)

The Bengals, behind the steady play of (wait for it) Andy Dalton, have looked like a top 5 team all year. Hill and Bernard certainly look like a two headed monster.

4. Denver Broncos (4-0)

It almost seems this team is 4-0 in spite of Peyton Manning. If he gets it going this team will be dangerous.

5. Arizona Cardinals (3-1)

Lost a tough one to the Rams this week and Todd Gurley’s coming out moment. Still, this team is as complete as any in the NFC.

6. Atlanta Falcons (4-0)

Who saw this running game coming pre-season? The offensive line looks like a revitalized group (even Any Levitre).

7. Carolina Panthers (4-0)

Newton certainly has looked like Superman through four weeks this season. If they’re smart they’ll start feeding the ball to Stewart to take some of the pressure of Newton.

8. Seattle Seahawks (1-2)

Going into a Monday Night matchup against the Lions without Lynch, the Seahawks still have too talented a lineup to not be taken seriously.

9. New York Jets (3-1)

It’s hard to judge of the Jets are that good, or the Dolphins are that bad. This is certain, they’re defense will get better this week with Sheldon Richardson returning.

10. Minnesota Vikings (2-2)

Tough loss to the Broncos this week. Seems they still haven’t made it over the hump to make plays when it matters, but they’re on the right track and Bridgewater has been steady.