Week 14 Rushing Matchups

Go here for this week's Passing Matchups.

Top 5 Rushing Matchups

Philadelphia vs Carolina

Last week, Saquon Barkley proved that he is matchup-proof. Facing one of the league's best run-stopping units in Baltimore, Barkley had 107 rushing yards, which was the first time this season that a running back had topped 100 yards against Baltimore. Barkley needs to average 100.2 rushing yards per game to get to 2,000 for the season and 121.2 yards to break Eric Dickerson's 2,105 rushing yards. While the Eagles have the league's best running back, they also have the league's best offensive line. Led by the tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, this frees up so much of the off-tackle rushing attack that the Eagles try to do behind these two. The Eagles have been extremely fortunate with health, as while Mailata missed a little bit of time, this has been a mostly healthy unit, which is a big reason the team is 10-2 in the season. We have seen the Eagles reduce Jalen Hurts' rushing numbers as of late, as Hurts is averaging just 9.5 carries per game over the last four games compared to 10.8 over his first eight games.

Carolina continues to play hard for coach Dave Canales in his first season, but they're just a unit that has by far the lowest talent level in the NFL on their defense. The Panthers allow 138 rushing yards per game to opposing running backs, which is the most in the NFL by 20 yards, as the next closest team has allowed just 118 rushing yards to the position. Last week, the Panthers allowed 228 yards to Bucky Irving and Rachaad White as Tampa Bay ran the ball 36 times en route to victory. Three running backs over the last four games have topped 100 yards, as this defense just has not improved this season. The issue for the Panthers has been up the middle. The team desperately misses Derrick Brown, who was placed on IR back in Week 1, as Deshawn Williams, Shy Tuttle, A'Shawn Robinson, and LaBryan Ray all make up the weakest defensive line in football. As a linebacker, the team does not get much help either, as they have not been able to find a leader on this defense since the loss of Shaq Thompson. Rookie Trevin Wallace has been thrown into a starting position, which is something he has not looked ready for, while Josey Jewell, who is not a great tackler and primarily a weak-side linebacker, has now been forced into the strong side, being the primary tackler for most plays. This unit is a veteran-filled room of journeyman-type players. Bmprovement this late in the season seems unlikely.

New Orleans at NY Giants

Offensively, the Saints have been absolutely decimated by injuries. This season, the Saints have lost Chris Olave, Taysom Hill, Rashid Shaheed, and Kendre Miller, along with elite right tackle Ryan Ramcyzk. The only consistent offensive weapon that the Saints have left is Alvin Kamara. Over the last four weeks, the Saints are heavily utilizing Kamara, as he's averaging 26 touches per game. With Hill getting injured last week, this number may need to increase to be as many as Kamara can physically handle, as Hill was averaging ten touches per game over the last four weeks. The Saints did get some good news this week in that it appears that their offensive line is going to get some help as Eric McCoy and Lucas Patrick both had a limited practice on Wednesday and would be critical as they are likely going to be without the right Cesar Ruiz who suffered a concussion last week and left guard Nick Saldiveri who is dealing with a knee injury as neither practiced on Wednesday. The Saints will need to heavily leverage Kamara in both the running and passing game, which should be a very favorable matchup this week.

The Giants' defense has completely reverted to the defense we saw early on in the season after showing signs that they had improved it over the middle portion. Since Week 8, the Giants have allowed 136 rushing yards per game and 1.2 touchdowns per game to opposing running backs, which is fourth in the NFL. This defense has allowed 100-yard games to Najee Harris, Chuba Hubbard, and Rico Dowdle since Week 8 while allowing a combined 100 yards to Tampa Bay and Washington's committees. The Giants suffered a devastating injury last week to All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II. This was an injury that they just could not afford to lose, as he was the only defensive lineman who was consistently making plays. Without Lawrence, the Giants will have the worst defensive lines in the NFL for the remainder of the season as D.J. Davidson, Jordon Riley, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and undrafted rookie Elijah Chatman have not shown any ability to stop the run. The Giants' weak linebacking unit is not helping matters. Micah McFadden had a strong start to the season, but his play has completely fallen off back to his career below-average levels while the team may be without linebacker Bobby Okereke this week and be forced to start sixth-round rookie Darius Muasau, which would be an issue for the Giants this week.

Tennessee vs Jacksonville

Tony Pollard's inconsistency has been extremely frustrating. After having 24 carries in Week 12, Pollard went back to having just eight carries in Week 13. Pollard now has ten or fewer carries in three of his last four games, as the team has shown that they will be quick to abandon the run the moment they fall behind in a game. The good news this week is that it seems unlikely that the Titans will lose by ten or more, which they've done in all three of Pollard's sub-ten carry games as they take on the Mac Jones-led Jaguars. The Titans' season overall has been disappointing. They continue to have massive offensive line issues despite investing heavily in two first-round picks over the last two seasons in JC Latham and Peter Skoronski and bringing in offensive line guru Bill Callahan.

Jacksonville's run defense has completely fallen off a cliff in recent weeks. Since Week 8, Jacksonville has allowed a league-leading 147 rushing yards per game to opposing running backs, as Joe Mixon, Saquon Barkley, and Josh Jacobs have all topped 100 yards. This defensive line invested heavily in rushing the passer with Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, but the interior of the defensive line has issues. Defensive linemen Tyler Lacy and DaVon Hamilton have not been able to keep linemen from getting downfield this season. While the linebackers from the Jaguars are solid with Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd, the safeties are an issue as they're spending most of their time focused on pass defense which the Jaguars have also struggled with this season. Andre Cisco and Darnell Savage are two veteran safeties, but schematically, the team is prioritizing ensuring that they can help in pass coverage more than run defense, which can set up big plays for opponents of the Jaguars.

Buffalo at LA Rams

James Cook and the Buffalo rushing offense have largely been matchup-dependent this season. In good matchups, they're going to find success, but in some of the more difficult matchups, they're going to be shut down. Over the last four games, James Cook has faced San Francisco (Good), Kansas City (Bad), Indianapolis (Good), and Miami (Bad). Cook averaged 93.5 rushing yards in those two good matchups, while he averaged just 32 rushing yards in the two bad ones. The Bills will exploit weaknesses, taking the easiest path of victory instead of forcing their style of football regardless of the matchup.

The Rams' run defense is facing some important questions this week. They started the year as one of the worst run-stopping units in football but had improved significantly from Weeks 5 to 10 as they allowed just 78 rushing yards per game, the fifth-best in the NFL. However, this defense has been torched over the last three games, allowing 161 rushing yards per game, which is the worst in the NFL. The big question that the Rams will need to answer is whether this has been a scheduling issue as they've faced Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, and Rhamondre Stevenson or if this defense has regressed. The answer is likely both, as the team has relied more heavily on Omar Speights at linebacker since Week 10 due to the injury to veteran Troy Reeder. The Rams are also schematically trying to figure out how to rotate their defensive line to stop the run. We've seen second-round rookie Braden Fiske see an uptick in playing time over the last three weeks, which, while it helps their pass rush, Fiske struggles with consistently stopping the run.