Top 5 RB Performances of Week 1

Last season, we had a regular feature honoring the top five quarterback performances of the previous week, and we’ve continued that tradition this season by taking a brief look at what the likes of Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford did to lead their teams to victory in Week 1. We’d like to continue this feature at other positions, and we’re rolling out the top five RB performances of the week, listed in no particular order. How did we narrow it down to five with the caveat being that it’s impossible to watch every rushing play in every week? Well, we used stats like yards per carry, rushing yards, the Pro Football Focus’s missed tackles and yards after contact, and analytics from Advanced Football Analytics. Apologies to Matt Forte, as he missed the cut by a hair.

Miami Dolphins RB Knowshon Moreno

There were some great comebacks and near-comebacks in Week 1, but one of the most impressive come-from-behind victories was engineered by the Miami Dolphins offense in their 33-20 upset win over the rival New England Patriots. The Dolphins knocked off the Super Bowl contending Pats by scoring 23 unanswered points in the second half, shutting out the Pats after being down 20-10 at the half. It was a remarkable display from a team that lacked his sort of resiliency last season (for a number of reasons), but it was especially impressive to see the Dolphins running game firing on all cylinders.

The New England Patriots looked uncharacteristically poor in run defense, as Ja’Wuan James and Branden Albert consistently won at the point of attack on the outside, while center Samson Satele ignored criticism of him coming into the season by flat-out beasting on Vince Wilfork and a less-than-100% Sealver Siliga. Lamar Miller had a nice day with 59 yards on 11 carries, but it was veteran newcomer Knowshon Moreno who stole the show with a fantastic 134 yards and a TD to pace the offense. Moreno is on a mission to prove that his 2013 season was no fluke and that he can succeed without Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos prolific passing attack opening up lanes for him. But to be fair to Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins passing game is no joke either.

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Seattle Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch

By my estimation, Marshawn Lynch probably had the best pure rushing day of anyone, as he completely pulverized the Green Bay Packers subpar run defense on Thursday night. The Packers looked helpless in the Seahawks romp, as the NFC West juggernaut’s title defense started with a sonic boom provided by the stiff arms and bone-crunching broken tackles from Lynch. He finished with 110 yards and two touchdowns, and there remains no doubt that he’s the focal point of the Seahawks metronomically consistent offense.

Dallas Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray

The Dallas Cowboys played an embarrassing afternoon game against the San Francisco 49ers, as they allowed Colin Kaepernick to weave his magic with relative ease. We knew their secondary would be bad, but their offense struggled except when the 49ers really eased the gas pedal in garbage time. Tony Romo played one of the worst games of his career, and just about everyone on the Cowboys had an off game in a major way against San Francisco.

One player who was “on” his game, though, was running back DeMarco Murray, who emerged as a legitimate star last season after people made some pretty inane comments during the offseason about his rushing ability. Murray had 118 yards and added three receptions, and that’s all the more impressive considering how bad his teammates were against one of the league’s best defenses. Even without Aldon Smith, Glenn Dorsey, and NaVorro Bowman, the 49ers D is still pretty tough up front.

New York Jets RB Chris Ivory

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pick Ivory or Forte here, but I decided to go with the other member of the New York Jets 1-2 “Chris” punch. Ivory’s ranking comes on the strength of a 71-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter that gave the Jets some critical breathing room in their 19-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders. In fact, that was the “winning” touchdown for them in what was otherwise a sloppy game. Ivory’s run was a thing of beauty, but I still wonder if I should have given more weight to Forte’s big day as a pass-catcher.

Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell

There’s a strong chance that Le’Veon Bell had the best week of any running back, and he was instrumental in the Steelers 30-27 overtime win over the rival Cleveland Browns. The Steelers offense has a huge amount of firepower, and these guys are going to be carried by their offense while their secondary struggles to consistently make stops. Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger, and Markus Wheaton all had big days, but Bell was the brightest star on the Steelers offense, and that’s all the more impressive considering how good the Browns front seven is. The Michigan State product started his sophomore season with 109 yards on 21 carries and a TD, as well as a terrific six receptions for 88 yards on seven targets. He was efficient on the air and on the ground, and he’ll quickly establish himself as one of the league’s best all-purpose workhorse backs as long as the blocking in front of him isn’t terrible.