Jay Cutler was taking care of business for the Chicago Bears. He will be sidelined during the upcoming week with his broken thumb. His entire season is actually in question due to the “ailment.”
He has had tremendous help offensively in the backfield thus far from Matt Forte and Marion Barber. Forte, the Tulane product, is in his fourth season and already has accumulated over four thousand yards on the ground. Half of the schedule is still obviously in play to increase those numbers dramatically.
Specifically this season, Forte is averaging five yards per carry and could pass the thousand yard mark during his next game. He does also have three touchdowns to add another notch on his belt. Conversely, Adrian Peterson is in his fifth season for the Minnesota Vikings and is also gaining nearly five yards per carry, but he has reached the end zone eleven times this season. He also has over sixty six hundred yards throughout his time in the NFL.
I haven’t mentioned the participants from the Green Bay Packers or Detroit Lions yet. Both of those clubs rely more heavily on their first round draft pick quarterbacks than Minnesota or Chicago. Aaron Rodgers is having a record breaking year at Lambeau Field and Matthew Stafford might be the most physically talented quarterback in the league if he is at full strength. Detroit also has one of the top two wide receivers in the NFL in Calvin Johnson. Nate Burleson has quite a resume as well to complement him. He was the leading receiver in the nation while in college for a season with the University of Nevada. Chicago also gains so much yardage from returns, so they don’t need the long sustained drives that some of their counterparts do to score.
To prove my point, Jahvid Best had under four hundred yards on the ground in six games this season before he succumbed to injury. Kevin Smith ran wild in his place this weekend, but that would seem to be an aberration compared with what will take place for the duration. Best, however, could be used as more of a Reggie Bush type of player in the future because he is averaging over ten yards per reception.
Ryan Grant doesn’t even have three hundred yards so far for the Green Bay Packers. He is averaging under four yards per carry. James Starks has carried more of the load lately and does add over five hundred yards to Grant’s statistics. It increases the effectiveness and energy of the runners to switch up who gets the carries on occasion. The Giants proved that when Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs became thunder and lightning.
Adrian Peterson is my choice because he has been effective longer and nobody runs harder than he does. The ability to put the ball in the end zone is especially impressive because everyone on the opposing defenses knows that he is going to get the ball. This puts tremendous pressure on him to produce for the team to remain competitive.