Interesting Bengals fact during playoff years in ML era

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(10-05-2017, 01:37 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I just looked it up, and for every year the Bengals have gone to the playoffs since Marvin Lewis arrived, they have had their top RB have over 1100 total yards from scrimmage.

2005: Rudi Johnson 1548 yards (1458 ruYd, 90 recYd)
2009: Cedric Benson 1362 yards (1251 ruYd, 111 recYd)
2011: Cedric Benson 1149 yards (1067 ruYd, 82 recYd)
2012: BenJarvus Green-Ellis 1198 yards (1094 ruYd, 104 recYd)
2013: Giovani Bernard 1209 yards (695 ruYd, 514 recYd)
2014: Jeremy Hill = 1339 yards (1124 ruYd, 215 recYd)
2015: Giovani Bernard = 1202 yards (730 ruYd, 472 recYd)

While there have been seasons when the Bengals have had a RB get more than 1100 total yards and not make the playoffs, they have never had their top statistical RB have less than 1100 yards and still make the playoffs during the Marvin Lewis era.

What this also indicates is that the Bengals had a good enough offensive line in those playoff years to help said RBs achieve those yardage totals. That is a very important factor to note.

The projected total yardage of the Bengals' RBs for 2017 determined by multiplying their current stats by four since we're 1/4 the way through the season:
Bernard = 892 yards
Mixon = 856 yards
Jeremy Hill = 392 yards

What this tells me: If the Bengals hope to make the playoffs this year, they need to do the necessary to get their RBs more productive. If one of the Bengals RBs does surpass 1100 total yards from scrimmage, it will likely be (at least partially) contributed to an improvement in the performance of the OL throughout the year. If no RB does, it will likely be primarily be caused from terrible OL performance, and therefore also highly likely that the Bengals fall short of the playoffs.

Thoughts on this statistical trend?

I agree with the trend, but 2009 was an anomaly.  We had a bad oline then as well, but we ran a shit ton of unbalanced sets (remember Roland being the extra tackle a lot?), to help run the ball.  It did wonders for the run game, but hampered the passing game.

As Pistons noted, it helps your QB and defense.  In the playoff game against NYJ, Benson balled out, but we couldn't get anything going in the passing game.  In 2013, we abandoned BJGE way too early, IMO.