Top 5 Rushing Matchups
Arizona vs Carolina
The Arizona Cardinals' Week 1 performance was a bit disappointing despite the victory. It felt as if they were playing down to their competition, knowing that New Orleans' offense was not good enough to consistently score, and they took a conservative play-calling approach. We often see this from West Coast teams going east; it was just that the Saints were not good enough to pull the upset. Not helping matters was the offensive line, under new offensive line coach Justin Frye, which struggled to create consistent holes against what should have been a favorable matchup. James Conner had just 39 yards on 12 carries, and while Trey Benson did find more success with 69 yards on 8 carries, this was entirely on a 52-yard run from Benson. For Conner to have success, he needs the right side of this offensive line to improve, as right guard second-year Isaiah Adams and former first-round right tackle Jonah Williams both struggled to run block for Conner. This should be a get-right game.
Through Week 1, Carolina's run defense looks as bad as it did in 2024. Last season, they allowed 148 rushing yards per game. In Week 1, they were absolutely torched by Jacksonville as Travis Etienne Jr. had 143 rushing yards on just 16 carries, capped off by a 71-yard run. This front seven needs significant improvement and is likely to remain a problem for most of the season. Safety Tre'von Moehrig led the team in tackles with 11, as the linebackers Christian Rozeboom and Trevin Wallace continuously struggled to make plays. The biggest issue for Carolina, however, is going to be their inept offense. Through Week 1, Bryce Young was unable to build on some of the late-season promising starts that he had. Young averaged just 4.4 yards per attempt, which, if he's unable to improve, the Panthers are going to see a heavy dosage of rush attempts against them this year.
NY Jets vs Buffalo Bills
The Jets' rushing attack looks to be one of the most dynamic in the NFL through one week. The combination of Breece Hall and Justin Fields combined for 155 yards. Hall had 107 yards, which matched the number of times he topped 100 yards last season. The good news for the Jets is they seem committed through one week to featuring Hall; he had 19 carries while Braelon Allen had just six. It's still too early to gauge the performance against Pittsburgh, but doing against a defense that allowed just 84 yards per game to opposing running backs last season could indicate upside for the Jets' running backs to total 134 yards for the remainder of the season. The bright spot for the Jets was 2025 first-round right tackle Armand Membou, who consistently won one-on-one battles with the elite defensive ends in Pittsburgh.
Derrick Henry torched Buffalo on Sunday Night as he ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns. The Ravens dominated the Bills' defensive line, as DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver were unable to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. The Bills have a big problem at the safety position as Cole Bishop is simply unable to make plays against the run. Buffalo chose to play Bishop over Damar Hamlin due to Bishop's pass coverage ability, but Hamlin is the far better run-stopper. The Bills' linebackers were a problem last season, as Matt Milano has not been able to recover from all of the injuries that he has suffered, while Terrel Bernard is finding himself in the wrong position far too often. Buffalo is a team that is designed to play with a lead, and their defense is ultimately built to overcome Kansas City, which is stopping the pass at all costs.
LA Rams at Tennessee
Despite a difficult matchup, Kyren Williams passed the Week 1 test. Facing one of the league's best run defenses in 2024, Williams was able to run for 66 yards on 18 carries. On the surface, a 3.7 yards-per-attempt may not be impressive, but when you factor in that his longest run of the day was just nine yards, that means he's gaining positive yardage on almost every carry. This is Williams' backfield, as no other running back had more than one carry in this game, and Williams saw 82% of snaps. As this offense continues to come together with newly acquired wide receiver Davante Adams, it should open up more running lanes for Williams, especially as the matchups should get easier starting with this week.
The Titans were torched in Week 1 against the run, as Denver ran all over them for 133 yards on 22 carries. The Broncos came into the season with one of the lowest expectations when it came to rushing offense. This defense relied heavily on its defensive line, featuring 365-pound T'Vondre Sweat, drafted by the Titans in the second round of 2024, and former All-Pro Jeffrey Simmons. Sweat either was not in shape, hurt, or struggled in the preseason, as he was on the field for 70% of snaps last season, but this week was on the field for just 38% of snaps. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Simmons struggled and was clearly frustrated after suffering a late penalty that helped the Rams put the game away in the fourth quarter. This defense relies heavily on these two players to perform at a high level, given that their linebacker unit is one of the weaker units in the NFL, primarily because Cody Barton and Cedric Gray are not elite run-stoppers. Gray, in his second season after a rough rookie year, showed signs of improvement after seeing his first real significant playing time after being buried on the depth chart for most of last season.