Alfred Morris Usage In The Offense Over A Season

[TexasSkinsFan]

I have been trying to figure something out and would like your help. Below are the first 19 games of Alfred Morris career with the number of rushing attempts and team result next to them. Please take a look

 

2012
Game 01 - 28 rushing attempts - Win
Game 02 - 16 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 03 - 17 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 04 - 21 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 05 - 18 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 06 - 16 rushing attempts - Win
Game 07 - 22 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 08 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 09 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 10 - 20 rushing attempts - Win
Game 11 - 24 rushing attempts - Win
Game 12 - 22 rushing attempts - Win
Game 13 - 23 rushing attempts - Win
Game 14 - 27 rushing attempts - Win
Game 15 - 22 rushing attempts - Win
Game 16 - 33 rushing attempts - Win


2013
Game 01 - 12 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 02 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss
Game 03 - 15 rushing attempts - Loss


The results are that when we give Alfred Morris 20 or more carries in a game the teams Win Loss record is 8 Wins with 2 Losses.

 

When we give Alfred Morris less then 20 carries in a game the teams record is 1 Win and 8 Losses.

 

 

Can someone please tell me why we are not giving him the ball more with results like this? I do not understand this

[TheGoodBits]

When you're losing you don't run as much because you need to hurry up and score. Very easy.

[TexasSkinsFan]

When you're losing you don't run as much because you need to hurry up and score. Very easy.

 

Interesting you said that but that still doesn't make sense to me

 

Morris had 2 carries in the first quarter

Morris had 6 carries in the second quarter including a TD run

Morris had 5 carries in the third quarter

Morris had 2 carries in the fourth quarter

The game entered the 4th quarter tied up 17-17

We only gave a healthy Morris 15 carries yesterday but we are giving RG3 career number in pass attempts when he is clearly not healthy yet. Wouldn't the smarter thing to do be to lean heavier on Morris then to call the game with an unbalance of

 

50 pass attempts RG3

15 rushes Alfred Morris

 

Our play selection in the fourth quarter yesterday was RG3 with 22 pass attempts that results in drives ending in

 

1 Fumble

1 Punt

1 FG

1 End of the Game Time Expiration

 

I don't understand this sort of game planning considering the previous game results and health of our players. 

[Cooleyfan1993]

I have been trying to figure something out and would like your help. Below are the first 19 games of Alfred Morris career with the number of rushing attempts and team result next to them. Please take a look

 

2012

Game 01 - 28 rushing attempts - Win

Game 02 - 16 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 03 - 17 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 04 - 21 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 05 - 18 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 06 - 16 rushing attempts - Win

Game 07 - 22 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 08 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 09 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 10 - 20 rushing attempts - Win

Game 11 - 24 rushing attempts - Win

Game 12 - 22 rushing attempts - Win

Game 13 - 23 rushing attempts - Win

Game 14 - 27 rushing attempts - Win

Game 15 - 22 rushing attempts - Win

Game 16 - 33 rushing attempts - Win

2013

Game 01 - 12 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 02 - 13 rushing attempts - Loss

Game 03 - 15 rushing attempts - Loss

The results are that when we give Alfred Morris 20 or more carries in a game the teams Win Loss record is 8 Wins with 2 Losses.

 

When we give Alfred Morris less then 20 carries in a game the teams record is 1 Win and 8 Losses.

 

 

Can someone please tell me why we are not giving him the ball more with results like this? I do not understand this

 

huh? pretty sure we won week 4...and we were 3-6, not 3-5 before the winning streak.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

We beat Tampa in week 4 last year. 

 

Anyway, I don't think it is necessarily as simple as saying get him 'x' number of touches and we win. I think you have to take each game on it's own and think of the matchups and game situations. For example the last few of 2012 we had a hobbled rookie QB and needed to rely more on Morris. 

Then this year, we fell behind huge early and had to move away from the run. 

 

Now yesterday, there is no reason for Morris to only get 15 touches when he looked as effective as he did. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Yesterday's second half was a little tough overall. We tried to run in the second half and had some odd circumstances come into play. Here are his carries during our second half drives:

 

3rd Quarter

Ist-and-10 at the Detroit 29: Morris for 0 yards

2nd-and-10 at the Detroit 29: Morris for 4 yards

We ultimately kicked a FG but it's tough to blame Kyle for not running on 3rd-and-6.

 

2nd-and-10 at the Washington 27: Morris for 1 yard (facemask gave us a 1st down)

1st-and-10 at the Washington 43: Morris for 1 yard

We would take a sack and ultimately punt on this drive but again it's tough to say that we abandoned Morris here.

 

1st-and-10 at the Washington 20: Morris for 3 yards

2nd-and-7 at the Washington 23: Morris for 1 yard.

We didn't convert on 3rd down and had to punt, but it's once again tough to question a 3rd-and-6 pass.

 

4th Quarter

1st-and-10 at the Washington 39: Morris for 4 yards.

After picking up the first down, the drive resulted in the long Griffin scramble/fumble.

 

1st-and-10 at the Washington 32: Morris for 3 yards.

After picking up the first down, we threw the long TD that was called back, then had the bad snap, and ultimately punted.

 

The next time we got the ball we had about 4 minutes to score twice. In the second half, Morris got 8 carries for 17 yards. I'm not really sure I can second-guess the play calling since the team was moving the ball well. The second half offense was stopping itself with bad snaps, dropped passes, and fumbles.

[BornToHail]

Interesting you said that but that still doesn't make sense to me

 

Morris had 2 carries in the first quarter

Morris had 6 carries in the second quarter including a TD run

Morris had 5 carries in the third quarter

Morris had 2 carries in the fourth quarter

The game entered the 4th quarter tied up 17-17

We only gave a healthy Morris 15 carries yesterday but we are giving RG3 career number in pass attempts when he is clearly not healthy yet. Wouldn't the smarter thing to do be to lean heavier on Morris then to call the game with an unbalance of

 

50 pass attempts RG3

15 rushes Alfred Morris

 

Our play selection in the fourth quarter yesterday was RG3 with 22 pass attempts that results in drives ending in

 

1 Fumble

1 Punt

1 FG

1 End of the Game Time Expiration

 

I don't understand this sort of game planning considering the previous game results and health of our players. 

 

I agree we should have run Morris more when it was tied, but that still wouldn't have guaranteed us a win.

[TexasSkinsFan]

I am sorry for the mistake about week 4 guys. I have dyslexia pretty bad and made a mistake there. You are right we did win week four

 

 

We beat Tampa in week 4 last year. 

 

Anyway, I don't think it is necessarily as simple as saying get him 'x' number of touches and we win. I think you have to take each game on it's own and think of the matchups and game situations. For example the last few of 2012 we had a hobbled rookie QB and needed to rely more on Morris. 

Then this year, we fell behind huge early and had to move away from the run. 

 

Now yesterday, there is no reason for Morris to only get 15 touches when he looked as effective as he did. 

 

 

I am not trying to say it's simply a formula that would work every single week but the questions I have here about the utilization of Morris and RG3 are the same.

 

We can see something simple that the more we include him in the offense the better the results for the team. We also know that RG3 is not healthy and we can see the comments players are making about him right now saying the same. So why are we not increasing the workload that Morris has the past few weeks?

 

Especially weeks one and two when early on the the Defense is gassed and needs a break, Why haven't we relied on Morris more then we have? I don't understand that

[ballin2041]

I thought Shanny broke it down great today on why the numbers were skewed.

 

Also, I was mostly on a different site last year but I talked non stop about how I hate our O at home and love it on the road because we are super super super conservative at home while we turn it loose on the road. Thats why Im not upset at the playcalling. We are always a running team but we mix it up alot better on the road while we tended to run run pass at home. I thought all our home games sucked last year except for the Seahawks game. I thought that was the only game last season that Kyle called like he does on the road. It was a great game plan that makes me have no doubt in my mind that we wouldve won if RG3 were healthy but he wasnt and couldnt execute it.

 

This year Kyle is being more aggressive at home. This is how he calls it on the road but we are just a lil off. I love it. Mix it up and dont have any fear of RG3 throwing. We will be fine. Stay aggressive

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I agree we should have run Morris more when it was tied, but that still wouldn't have guaranteed us a win.

 

Look at the drive charts I posted above. I'm not really sure when another Morris run would have been warranted or even improved the outcome of what happened.

[TexasSkinsFan]

I agree we should have run Morris more when it was tied, but that still wouldn't have guaranteed us a win.

 

I agree with you. I don't think that we would be guaranteed a Win every time that Morris was the focal point of the offense. I do think that making him the focal point of the offense would in fact be very good for this team, more then we have used him so far this year.

 

Please no one misunderstand my next statement. I am not calling RG3 Christian Ponder or Morris Peterson but think about the Vikings offense please.

 

Last year Morris was the NFL's 2nd leading rusher only behind Peterson. Our offense is sputtering right now for various reasons. Why not lean on Morris the way that the Vikings do since they struggle with Ponder and insist on leaning heavily on Peterson? The Vikings last year did just that and ended up seeing Ponder with his best production in his career when teams were forced to try and stop Peterson. I think leaning on Morris more then we have been like this would help RG3.

 

It is not a recipe for guaranteed wins but I think it is what this team needs to do going forward to turn the team around

[Bang]

What were Griffin's rushing numbers in those big wins last year?

it' a two-headed monster, and only one head is there right now. I'd like to run Alfred a little more now myself, but the key is much easier for defenses right now.

Besides, this isn't the old days where you could point to a RB stat like "if XX gets it 25 times, they win".. the game isn't like that anymore. You can't really run a ball control, clock kill offense.

The game itself is set up for the offense to move up and down the field through the air.

the NFL wants points, and that means they want offenses throwing the ball.

~Bang

[TexasSkinsFan]

Look at the drive charts I posted above. I'm not really sure when another Morris run would have been warranted or even improved the outcome of what happened.

 

I appreciate what you did here but the rushing attempts for yesterday's second half of football do not tell the whole story about this year played so far.

 

It's only happened two times this year where Alfred Morris was given more then 3 carries in any single offensive drive we have had at any time and both happened in the Eagles game. Last year this was not how we were winning games. We need to get back to what was working and that was a healthy balanced offense

[yank]

Simple difference between correlation (two things happened more or less concurrently) and causation (one thing caused the other).

 

Teams usually run the ball less when they are behind in the score than when they are ahead. 

 

The Skins ran the ball more when they were ahead/won than when they were behind/lost.  So there is a CORRELATION between running the ball and being ahead/winning.

 

This does not at all mean that the Redskins running the ball necessarily CAUSED the team to go ahead/win.  Certainly being able to control the ball with the run when you are ahead is a also good thing.  But you have to be ahead or close first to be able to run a lot.

 

But we were behind so much last year and the first two games we abandoned the run to an extent like all other teams do to try and score quickly to catch up.

[TexasSkinsFan]

What were Griffin's rushing numbers in those big wins last year?

it' a two-headed monster, and only one head is there right now. I'd like to run Alfred a little more now myself, but the key is much easier for defenses right now.

Besides, this isn't the old days where you could point to a RB stat like "if XX gets it 25 times, they win".. the game isn't like that anymore. You can't really run a ball control, clock kill offense.

The game itself is set up for the offense to move up and down the field through the air.

the NFL wants points, and that means they want offenses throwing the ball.

~Bang

 

 

Alfred Morris is a incredible talent and one of few superstars on this team with or without RG3 rushing the ball

 

Currently Morris is Ranked 9th in the NFL in Rushing Yards.

Morris on the Season has 40 rushing attempts. That is the fewest by any NFL RB in the top 10. Next closest is 52 attempts from top 10 RB's. He is 170 yards shy of NFL leading rusher LeSean McCoy who has 22 more rushing attempts then Morris. Morris is ranked 2nd in average yards per carry with an average of 5.6 yards, 1st is LeSean McCoy who has a 6.4 yards per carry average. No one else in the top 10 leading NFL rushers has an average over 5 yards a carry like Morris

 

Why wouldn't the offense want to give him the ball more?

 

Yesterday the Colts won on the road in San Francisco 27 to 7. Andrew Luck passed the ball for only 167 yards and threw no TD's. The Colts running game put up a 179 rushing yards. This is a balanced attack and something we need to do more of

[TexasSkinsFan]

Simple difference between correlation (two things happened more or less concurrently) and causation (one thing caused the other).

Teams usually run the ball less when they are behind in the score than when they are ahead.

The Skins ran the ball more when they were ahead/won than when they were behind/lost. So there is a CORRELATION between running the ball and being ahead/winning.

This does not at all mean that the Redskins running the ball necessarily CAUSED the team to go ahead/win. Certainly being able to control the ball with the run when you are ahead is a also good thing. But you have to be ahead or close first to be able to run a lot.

But we were behind so much last year and the first two games we abandoned the run to an extent like all other teams do to try and score quickly to catch up.

The bolded point plays right into the opponents hand. It's like playing poker with Fours in your hand and two more on the board and checking to your opponent who believes his Full House is unbeatable. When the Redskins get away from Redskins football we lose so other teams know, get them away from the rush and you beat them.

What is Redskins football? Running the ball. We led the entire league in rushing last season. When did we become a pass the ball 50 times a game team? And when with an injured QB would that be the best idea to do over giving the ball to a stud rusher like Morris?

Us fans scream for the offense giving the Defense a rest right? Well why not rush the ball three times picking up 4 yards a clip and a first down and slowing the other team down? When our Defense is making every QB out there we face look like the unstoppable Johnny Unitas why don't we play keep away from them and not pass the ball as much and use some game clock? Instead in three games we've lost we have only rushed the ball more then 3 times in a single drive twice and both in week one. One game. I don't think that is Redskins football

[skinny21]

Hard to have a balanced attack when you're down multiple scores. Yesterday was the first time we weren't and it was pretty apparent Detroit (with a talented d-line) was playing the run. Thought it was very smart of Kyle to run so much PA to start forcing the lbs to drop. I said elsewhere, I think those PA passes were what allowed Morris to get that td run. As Griffin improves in the run game, that'll also open up some things for Morris. I think the Shanahan's know Morris is their workhorse, but circumstances have limited his use.

[DCthomahal]

I agree it is very easy for us fans to look for the silver bullet that will slay all our demons. And I agree that having a columnist back you is no great assurance that you are on the right track.

However, for my money, the OP is right on target with this post. And one of the columnist that I respect at the WP (a dwindling number to be sure), Thomas Boswell does agree with him as well.

For what it is worth, here is my post from before the last game:

 

Alfred Morris gets 20 rushes or more, we win 31-24.

 

Morris gets less than 20 rushes ...I can't bear to predict a loss in any scenrio. We just gotta win, can't contemplate any alternatives.

 

and during the half of last game:
 

 

Well, we're only averaging 8.1 yards per carry, so clearly there is no reason for Kyle to call a bunch of running plays in the second half. Why should we? Why should feed the offensive MVP?

 

His name is Alfred Morris. He is a 6th round pick. He is an exceptionally nice guy.

 

Let's ignore him.

 

SEVEN rushes. Morris has 7 rushes in the entire first half. He averaged 8 yards a carry for 56 yards. He turned obvious losses into 3-4 yard gains ...as he has done about a THOUSAND times. He broke takcles making the Detroit D looking almost as bad as ...oh, I don't know --some really bad tackling team. Maybe you think of some team to name there. He broke a 30 yard TD run. He helped demolish someone with a devasting block. He clearly, to me, was the reason the offense had a GLIMMER of a rythum FINALLY!

 

Exactly what the living heck does this young man have to do to get more than SEVEN rushes in a half?!?!?!?!

 

ZERO excuses about being behind, yada, yada. He and the running game make this team go. Giving him the ball repeatedly is the THE best way to get the passing game back to where it has been in the past.

 

G-I-V-E A-L-F-R-E-D T-H-E B-A-L-L, pleeeeeeeeeese!

 

I continue to feel this way. Let's see how it plays out.

[Hanzo the Razor]

Phil Simms talked about this in his book 'Sunday Morning QB' and how it's the most misleading stat for fans.

 

As people have pointed out, you don't run the ball when you're behind because you need to gain big chunks of yardage and preserve clock. 

 

But the flip side is that when you're winning, you run the ball more to eat up clock and reduce the chance of a pick-six or interception. You've seen that in a lot of the Broncos games this season -- they get a really big lead on a team via passing, then start running the hell out of the ball in the 4th quarter, which ends up padding those stats. When you look at the stats the next day, you see that they ran the ball a lot and then you can think, "They win by running the ball." But when you watch the games, it's a lot of passing to take a huge lead and then running to stop the opposing team from launching a comeback.

Also, it depends on where in the game you are -- Oakland went up on the Skins 0-14 in the first quarter, but that's still plenty of time to run a balanced offense and run the ball a lot to comeback. If there were 6 minutes left in the game and the Skins are down two TDs, you don't have the time to run the football anymore. 

[cphil006]

We're playing from behind and teams are shutting down Morris because there's no threat of RG3 running... which will slowly change...

 

If there is a positive from Morris getting light carries so far this season, it's that he'll be running harder later in the season (not that he didn't last season, but he was 22)  Carries take a toll... I don't necessarily think we should use him 10 carries a game to preserve him, but I'm just saying there's a sliver lining by not running him 30 times a game... as long as we win.

[darrelgreenie]

You can look back at the stats and say something like: when Alfred Morris receives +20 carries the Redskins have won.

This is a true statement.

Now saying that the Redskins win because Alfred gets +20 carries is speculative.

 

But on the whole I'll agree that this team needs to be run focused as opposed to pass focused.

And the aim should be to get our RBs 25+ carries every game.

Teams that want to run the ball have to make gameplan and playcalling choices that allow for this to occur.

Under Kyle the Redskins usually haven't made those choices.

[#BgMase76#]

I'm agee w/ the thread starter. We come out in bunch formations and try to pass almost every down. I understand when we're down by 3 scores. But that's a product of us not running the ball. RGIII's mechanics are bad right now. He's getting almost 40 attempts every week. We made our bones last season playing smash mouth ball. Returning an injured QB we throw almost every down. It really doesn't help that outside of Garcon everyone's hands are questionable.

[stp240]

As other posters have shown, Morris has not been effective running the football.

 

When a drive goes 3 and out.  2 runs and a pass.  Then yes, Morris will end up with less carries, but that's his fault!  Go watch the first 2 games.  He never broke a single tackle!  He has been running safe to not fumble again.

 

We get down by 3 scores because Morris makes consistent bad reads and can't move the offense without Read Option.  

 

Helu is a better back.  If you can't see that, your blind.  Better vision, better speed, better ball security, better receiving threat.

 

Morris is so overrated it's silly.

 

 

 

Seriously, go watch his first few carries of each game.  Awful

[Warhead36]

As other posters have shown, Morris has not been effective running the football.

 

When a drive goes 3 and out.  2 runs and a pass.  Then yes, Morris will end up with less carries, but that's his fault!  Go watch the first 2 games.  He never broke a single tackle!  He has been running safe to not fumble again.

 

We get down by 3 scores because Morris makes consistent bad reads and can't move the offense without Read Option.  

 

Helu is a better back.  If you can't see that, your blind.  Better vision, better speed, better ball security, better receiving threat.

 

Morris is so overrated it's silly.

 

 

 

Seriously, go watch his first 10 carries of each game.  Awful

If you made this post after the preseason or week 1, I may have agreed. Morris looked really slow and sluggish then.

 

But he's turned it on since then. He looks like his 2012 self. The holes haven't been as big without the read option though, but he maximizes his carries.

[TheGoodBits]

As other posters have shown, Morris has not been effective running the football.

When a drive goes 3 and out. 2 runs and a pass. Then yes, Morris will end up with less carries, but that's his fault! Go watch the first 2 games. He never broke a single tackle! He has been running safe to not fumble again.

We get down by 3 scores because Morris makes consistent bad reads and can't move the offense without Read Option.

Helu is a better back. If you can't see that, your blind. Better vision, better speed, better ball security, better receiving threat.

Morris is so overrated it's silly.

Seriously, go watch his first 10 carries of each game. Awful

I've been consistently saying for 3 weeks we need to see more of Helu, but not because Morris isn't getting it done. Teams are stacking the line to shut him down early. Play-calling early in the game has been poor and it's taken too long to make adjustments that force defenses to abandon that approach. Morris has been great when he's gotten a good push from the Oline.