Top 5 Rushing Matchups
Jacksonville vs NY Jets
Travis Etienne Jr. was a volume workhorse in Week 14, as he ran 20 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns against Indianapolis. The good news is that he has largely alleviated concerns about Bhayshul Tuten, who has struggled recently, averaging just 2.3 yards per carry over the last three weeks. This is a team that has exceeded all expectations this season, and a big reason for that has been their offensive line. Going into the season, this was projected to be one of the worst offensive lines in football, but they've put together a productive group. Cole Van Lanen has been a utility player who can play at both the tackle and guard positions, while third-year former first-round pick Anthony Harrison is having a career season as he looks to finally become a reliable starter for the Jaguars. This team is going to need to continue to rely heavily on their rushing attack and defense as their passing offense leaves a lot to be desired, with Trevor Lawrence having been inconsistent throughout the season, and with Travis Hunter out for the year.
The Jets seem to be at the point where we can officially say that they've quit for this season. Last week's performance was a culmination of the last couple of weeks, as this has been a completely different defense since they traded both Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams. Last week, Miami ran all over them with De'Von Achane having 92 yards on just 7 carries, while Jaylen Wright led the way with 107 yards on 24 carries. The Jets have now allowed 100+ yards or multi-touchdown games to every running back dating back to the Quinnen Williams trade in Week 11. It has become a demotivated, talent-lacking team, with massive holes at every level. They're heavily dependent on Quincy Williams, whose play has significantly declined since his brother was traded. At safety, Isaiah Oliver has been a liability, one of the worst run-stopping safeties in the NFL this season. The good news for the Jets is that it appears they may get Tony Adams back this week, who will be a slight upgrade over Oliver, but should not change the overall story for the Jets, which is that they're a liability across the board and one that should be exploited over the remaining four games of the season.
Houston vs Arizona
The Texans have some big question marks heading into this game at running back as neither Nick Chubb nor Woody Marks practiced on Wednesday. Of the two, it appears that Marks is more likely to play, as while he left the game temporarily last week due to a knee injury, he quickly returned to play and saw 87% of the snaps last week. Despite a heavy workload for the rookie, Marks has not been able to capitalize on the volume in recent weeks. Over the last four games, he has averaged 20 carries per game, but just 63 yards. Despite having a 10+ run in three of the four games, he just is not a player who can consistently grind out the 3-4 yard carry, as he's hit in the backfield far too often for no gain. A big reason for that is the interior of the offensive line. Center Jake Andrews continues to struggle in his second season, while left guard Tytus Howard is an excellent pass-blocker, but has been abysmal as a run-blocker this season. It's unlikely anything will change for the Texans, but if there were any hope, it would be against the flailing Cardinals this week.
Arizona seems to be another team struggling with effort, as its season has not gone as expected. What had hoped to be a playoff contender at the beginning of the season is now heading into an offseason without a long-term answer at quarterback and a pending rebuild. Last week, we saw the Rams run right through Arizona as Blake Corum ran for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 12 carries, while Kyren Williams added 84 yards on 13 carries. As a team, the Cardinals have allowed 44, 41, 27, 20, and 45 points during their current five-game losing streak. While Calais Campbell continues to play at an extremely high level, the rest of the defensive front has issues. Dalvin Tomlinson was brought in with the hope that he and 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson would stabilize this defense. It just has not worked. Robinson has gone the opposite way after a rough rookie season; he has been even worse this season, while Tomlinson is having the worst campaign in his career. What once was a 3-5 team is now 3-10. The big question is just how motivated the Cardinals are to fix the problems that they have right now defensively, or if the players are starting to think about offseason plans.
Washington at NY Giants
Disaster struck for the Commanders last week, as they brought Jayden Daniels back only for him to be re-injured. He will miss this week with an elbow injury. This team just seems to have a hard time finding an offensive identity. They've been forced to rotate Marcus Mariota and Jayden Daniels due to injury, and their plan not to invest in the running back room has backfired, especially after Austin Ekeler was lost early in the year. Chris Rodriguez Jr. has led the team the last few weeks and shown promise, but he is questionable after not practicing on Wednesday with a groin injury. If he's unable to go, the only player who is seeing any touches is Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Croskey-Merritt was great the first time these two teams met, as he ran for 82 yards on 10 carries while scoring a touchdown back in Week 1. However, since then, he's been extremely inconsistent and has shown he is likely better as a complementary back than a full-time starter. Their rotation with Rodriguez has produced some positive results, with Croskey-Merritt averaging 4.7 yards per carry over the last two games. If there is one strength of this team, it remains their offensive line. Laremy Tunsil has continued to be excellent, while right guard Sam Cosmi continues to play at a high level since returning from the torn ACL that he suffered last season.
The Giants have struggled against the run all season. Over the last couple of weeks, they've benefited from not allowing huge games to opposing running backs as they've faced several committees in New England and Green Bay (due to Josh Jacobs being injured). Now, they're coming off a Week 14 bye, which, for a 2-11 team without a coach, normally does not improve your team. The issue for the Giants has continued to be the linebacker play, which has been abysmal all season. This was already one of the weakest linebacker rooms in the NFL, but with Darius Muasau and Micah McFadden placed on IR, the Giants have had to rely on special teams players, such as Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Zaire Barnes, to step in. This has played a big role in the fact that the Giants have allowed a league-worst 5.95 yards per carry to opposing running backs this season, which is by far the worst in the league, and they're allowing the second-most fantasy points and rushing yards per game, only one yard per game better than the Bengals.
Baltimore at Cincinnati
