Passing fancy: Run teams lose identity
Throwing the football in the NFL is so alluring it can seduce even the best run teams.
The Colts forgot they have Jonathan Taylor after relying on Carson Wentz’s arm to build a 10-point halftime lead against the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers.
The Eagles climbed into the playoff race because of a potent rushing attack and let Jalen Hurts throw it away against the Giants.
The Ravens and Browns combined for five turnovers on pass plays in the second quarter Sunday night. Lamar Jackson threw three picks. Baker Mayfield and receiver Jarvis Landry fumbled on sacks.
If the Ravens didn’t play against the Browns, the NFL’s five top running teams would’ve lost in Week 12. The Titans, who entered with the league’s fifthranked rushing offense, kept rolling on the ground with 270 yards, but they were blown out by the Patriots 36-13.
Most baffling was the Colts’ play calling in the second half.
Facing the league’s stingiest run defense, the Colts couldn’t get Taylor going early. The Buccaneers (8-3) weren’t going to allow Taylor, the league’s first 1,000-yard rusher this season, to beat them. They dared the Colts to throw, and Wentz responded with three perfect TD passes in the first half for a 24-14 lead.
The Colts (6-6) got the ball to start the third quarter and kept on throwing. Wentz dropped back on 26 straight plays at one point, including the final eight plays in the second quarter. The results in the second half were disastrous. Shaquil Barrett’s strip-sack of Wentz led to a touchdown for the Bucs. Wentz then threw a pick on a deep ball in which Antoine Winfield Jr. made a leaping grab over Michael Pittman Jr. That led to another touchdown for the Bucs.
When the Colts finally handed it to Taylor again in the fourth quarter, he gained 58 yards on eight carries, including a game-tying TD. But Tom Brady then led the Bucs on the winning drive with Leonard Fournette scoring his fourth TD of the game for a 38-31 victory.
Why didn’t Taylor run the ball on the first three possessions of the second half ?
“We were rolling,” Colts coach Frank Reich said.
The Colts became enamored with the pass because it was working, but the turnovers ended up hurting them. Perhaps, giving the ball to Taylor in the third quarter would’ve allowed the Colts to extend the lead and avoid those costly mistakes.
“When we turn it over, it gives them life,” Reich said.
Reich’s former offensive coordinator, Nick Sirianni, helped the Eagles turn things around this season after he committed to the run. The first-year coach guided the Eagles (5-7) to three wins in the last four weeks with a heavy emphasis on the run, led by Hurts. But against the Giants, the Eagles moved away from it for stretches. Hurts threw 31 passes and was picked three times, including twice in the red zone. He had a chance at the end to win it, but Jalen Reagor couldn’t make a catch and the Giants held on for a 13-7 win.
When the Eagles ran, they had success, racking up 208 yards on the ground. They just didn’t run it enough to beat the Giants (4-7).
“When you turn the ball over three times, there are things at play there, but not a winning performance,” Sirianni said. “Running the ball was good.”
The Ravens (8-3) defeated the Browns (6-6) 16-10 despite a career-worst four interceptions by Jackson. The Browns entered with the league’s No. 1 rushing offense, but handed the ball to Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt just 15 times while Mayfield made 37 passes.
As the weather gets colder in December, running teams will have to do what they do best to win.