NFL Week 18 Motivation: Running Backs

Digging Deeper: See more Week 18 motivation links below.
Team-by-Team Motivation | Player-by-Player Motivation: QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs

The trickiest part of Week 18 is determining where teams stand regarding effort. Some teams have their backs against the wall, while others want to emerge healthy. Meanwhile, a few have perfected "1-2-3 Cancun" for weeks. 

We go game by game to see who has things to play for, either from a team perspective or based on statistical milestones.

A note: "Motivation" is entirely made up and subjective. The players playing will give their all, but teams will make selective choices on who plays and who sits out.

What running backs are chasing contract incentives? What statistical milestones are in play?

Players In Must-Win Games

• Derrick Henry, Baltimore
• Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit
• Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
• De'Von Achane, Miami
• Aaron Jones, Minnesota
• Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay
• Chase Brown, Cincinnati
• Najee Harris, Pittsburgh
• Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh
• Javonte Williams, Denver
• Audric Estime, Denver
• Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver

Players Who Could Sit

• Josh Jacobs, Green Bay
• Joe Mixon, Houston
• Brian Robinson Jr, Washington
• J.K. Dobbins, LA Chargers

Players Expected To Sit

• Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia
• Kyren Williams, LA Rams
• James Cook, Buffalo
• Kareem Hunt, Kansas City
• Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City

*All Contract Incentives are from Spotrac

Must Win Players

Derrick Henry, Baltimore

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 305 attempts, 1,783 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns, 17 receptions, 170 yards, two touchdowns

Contract Incentives: Henry receives $500,000 in bonuses for 1,200 and 1,500 rush yards and 13 and 15 touchdowns. 

Statistical Milestones: Henry is now eighth in franchise rush yards for the Ravens in just one season. His 14 rush touchdowns have him at seventh on the franchise list. 

It would take a 222-yard game, but now that Barkley will not play in Week 18, Henry could win the rushing crown.  With 217 yards, Henry would be the first player with two career 2,000-yard seasons. Henry has the second-most rushing yards in a Ravens season. Jamal Lewis has the team record at 2,066. Henry needs one rushing touchdown to tie James Cook as the league leader. Cook is expected to sit or play a cameo role. Henry is tied with Lewis for the most rushing touchdowns in a Ravens season. 

Henry has 11,285 career yards, placing 20th. John Riggins is above him at 11,352, and Steven Jackson is next at 11,438. His 104 rushing touchdowns tie him with Riggins for the seventh most. Jim Brown is sixth, with 106. 

Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 227 attempts, 1,273 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns, 47 receptions, 486 yards, three touchdowns

Statistical Milestones: Gibbs has the 12th most rush yards in a Lions season. Barry Sanders has nine of the top eleven games. The top ten are within reach, and he needs just 31 yards to crack that mark. In the most aggressive of outcomes, 227 yards would put him into the top five, as Sanders had a 1,500-yard season in 1995.

Gibbs's 1,759 scrimmage yards are third in the league, trailing Barkley (2,283) and Henry (1,953). It is the tenth-most scrimmage yards in a Lions season.  Gibbs's 16 touchdowns are just one behind Sanders and Jamaal Williams for the franchise single-season record. 

Bijan Robinson, Atlanta

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 276 attempts, 1,286 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, 59 receptions, 428 yards, one touchdown

Statistical Milestones: Robinson has the 12th most rushing yards and is tied with Michael Turner for the fourth-most rush yards in Falcons’ history. Gerald Riggs’ 1,486 is the fifth most, 200 yards away. Two more rushing touchdowns will bring him into a tie with Jamal Anderson for the second-highest total. 

Robinson’s 1,714 scrimmage yards are the ninth-highest Falcons total. He is 50 yards away from William Andrews for the sixth most; a 157-yard scrimmage day would bring him up to Julio Jones’ 1,871. 

De'Von Achane, Miami

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 192 attempts, 786 rushing yards, five touchdowns, 78 receptions, 592 yards, six touchdowns

Statistical Milestones: There are 19 players in the 800-5-600-5 club; Achane can become the 20th with 14 rush yards and eight receiving yards. Only nine of those players have as many receptions as Achane. Achane has the team record for receptions by a running back. His 592 yards are the sixth most by a back in team history. Achane’s 1,378 scrimmage yards are the eleventh most in team history. He can pass Delvin Williams to the top five with 72 yards in Week 18. 

Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 188 attempts, 1,033 rushing yards, seven touchdowns, 45 receptions, 397 yards, zero touchdowns

Statistical Milestones: Irving has the third most rushing yards by a Buccaneers rookie, trailing Doug Martin (1,454) and Cadillac Williams (1,178). There have been 16 rookies who have rushed for 1,000 yards while catching 45 passes; Najee Harris in 2021 was the last to do it. Irving has the 44th most scrimmage yards by a rookie; another 120-yard scrimmage day would move him into the Top 30. 

Najee Harris, Pittsburgh

• Team Motivation: 10 / 10
• Current Stats: 251 attempts, 1,007 rushing yards, five touchdowns, 32 receptions, 263 yards, zero touchdowns

Statistical Milestones: Harris has 1,000 rush yards in four consecutive seasons, the longest active record. Emmitt Smith holds the record at 11 straight. Harris is sixth on the Steelers franchise list, 105 yards from John Henry Johnson’s fifth place. His 27 touchdowns are the seventh most two behind Rashard Mendenhall. Harris is a free agent after the season and could be playing his final regular season game with Pittsburgh. 

Players Who Could Sit

Joe Mixon, Houston

• Team Motivation: 0 / 10
• Current Stats: 240 attempts, 993 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns, 35 receptions, 304 yards, one touchdown

Contract Incentives: Mixon can earn bonuses of $250,000 at 1,100 and 1,300 rush yards. 

Statistical Milestones: Mixon needs seven yards for his fifth 1,000-yard season. Mixon is two rushing touchdowns from tying his career high. He has the fourth-highest season in Texans’ history, trailing two Arian Foster seasons (16 in 2010 and 15 in 2012) and Domanick Williams (13 in 2004).  His 60 career touchdowns are tied in a group of six players for the 55th most in history. 

Josh Jacobs, Green Bay

• Team Motivation: 8 / 10
• Current Stats: 295 attempts, 1,285 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns, 35 receptions, 340 yards, one touchdown

Statistical Milestones: Jacobs has the sixth-highest yardage total in Packers history. The top five are Ahman Green (1,883), Jim Taylor (1,474), Dorsey Levens (1,435), Ahman Green (1,387), and Jim Taylor (1,307). His touchdowns are the fifth most, trailing Taylor (19), Aaron Jones (16), Green (15) and Taylor (15). He is tied with Mixon at 60 career rushing touchdowns. 

J.K. Dobbins, LA Chargers

• Team Motivation: 8 / 10
• Current Stats: 177 attempts, 842 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns, 29 receptions, 141 yards, zero touchdowns

Contract Incentives: Dobbins earns $150,000 each for five different rushing yardage levels: 600 / 750 / 900 / 1,050 / 1,200. 

Running Back Hodge Podge

A group of deep running backs have incentives they are chasing: