Rushing Matchups Week 19

Go here for this week's Passing Matchups.

Top 3 Rushing Matchups

Tampa Bay vs Washington

The Buccaneers are an interesting team heading into the playoffs this week. After the Buccaneers lost to Dallas in Week 16, Rachaad White’s role has largely fallen off a cliff. While he had ten touches against Dallas, most through the passing game with seven receptions, he had just seven touches in Week 17 and zero touches in Week 18 despite being active. Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen came out and said after the Cowboys game that they need to get Bucky Irving more snaps. A big reason for that likely is that White had two critical fumbles in Weeks 15 and 16, and in must-win games, the team decided to consolidate the touches to Bucky Irving. Irving has had an outstanding rookie season and has proven that he is the better back for this offense. He has averaged 5.4 yards per carry on the year, finishing with 1,122 yards, and any myth about him being unable to carry a heavy workload due to being undersized has largely been put to rest as he has 17 or more touches in each of his last four games including 24 against Carolina in Week 17.

Washington’s run defense has struggled for most of the season. On the year, they’re allowing the fourth-most rushing yards in the NFL, as five running backs have topped 100 yards against them this season. This is a defense that is a work in progress under first-year head coach Dan Quinn. Quinn inherited a roster that was depleted with talent as they had traded away two of their best defensive linemen mid-season last year, had the worst secondary in football, and had a linebacker unit that struggled to make tackles. While he solved the secondary and the linebackers, the defensive line has been a problem. Rookie Jer’Zhan Newton has struggled, and while the Commanders did get Jonathan Allen back in Week 17, he has been a liability in the run game since his return. Allen has always been a better pass rusher than a run-stuffer, so he’s quick to get into the backfield, allowing linemen to get downfield. Bobby Wagner, at age 34, is having another All-Pro caliber season in his first year in Washington. In their first meeting this season, Bucky Irving slashed through Washington as he had 62 yards on just nine carries in his first game as a rookie back in Week 1.

Houston vs LA Chargers

After being one of the best-rushing offenses to start the season, Joe Mixon and the Texans seem to be sputtering toward the finish line while still being just good enough to take advantage of one of the NFL’s weakest divisions. Mixon started the season by rushing for over 100 yards in seven of his first team games, yet over the last four games, he has failed to top 30 yards in three of his four games. There is some hope despite the recent struggles. Over the last four games, last week, the Texans only played their starters for a short period of time, while in the other three games in this recent streak, Houston faced Kansas City, Baltimore, and Miami, who have three of the best-run defenses in the NFL. As long as Houston can stay competitive in this game, they’re going to lean on the run game here, and while we may not see the 25+ carries that we saw earlier this season from Mixon, he still should have a better offensive performance than in recent weeks.