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While the cool kids we hope to be some day were studying their Dungeon Masters Guide this weekend, we compiled a list of the greatest running attacks in NFL/AFL history, based upon average per attempt. Thirty-one teams have averaged more than 5.0 YPA rushing over the course of a season, and they're listed below. We also list the 20 greatest ground attacks of the Super Bowl Era.

 

After four games this year, two teams are poised to join the all-time list of greatest ground games: the Raiders (5.250 YPA) and Steelers (5.015 YPA). The Steelers were up over 5.5 YPA, before rushing for just 77 yards on 26 carries in their embarrassing 21-14 loss to the Cardinals Sunday.

 

Folks who peruse this site regularly are probably aware that we put a lot of stock in efficiency over volume. Anybody can do something often. Not everybody can do something well. So that's why we find this list pretty compelling. We believe it's probably bettter than total rushing yards as a true measure of the greatest running attacks. (We're also excited to see more and more stats on TV and elsewhere using per-attempt averages to meausre everything from passing attacks to run defenses.)

 

There are a lot of folks out there who believe that pure number of rushing attempts is a great measure of ground-game efficiency. It may be. If you run often, it's probably because you're winning a lot of games, they argue. We're not going to have that debate today.

 

We're just looking at the teams thatr ripped off more yards per rushing attempt than any others in history. It's pretty compelling in a sport that drills the need to run the ball into the heads of players, coaches and even fans from the first time they're exposed to the sport. Nobody's ever fulfilled this pigskin maxim better than the teams listed below.

 

After compiling this list and taking a quick look at the numbers, a few Cold, Hard Football Facts jump out: 

Most of these great running teams were not great teams.

Just 13 of the 31 greatest ground attacks in NFL history even made the playoffs. Only one team, the 1951 Rams, won an NFL championship. Two of these teams, the 1962 Texans and 1963 Chargers, won the AFL championship.

 

 

The "establish the run game" theory has little factual support.

The need to establish the run is so firmly established in football culture that it's virtually impossible to argue otherwise. Pound the ball at the opposition, enforce your will upon them at the line of scrimmage and good things will follow. It makes sense. It really does. But everywhere we look, we find little evidence to support this theory. This list is a prime example. If you need to establish the run to win, it only makes sense that the greatest running teams EVER would be among the best teams ever, or at least better overall than these teams were. Clearly, this is not a collection of great, great teams. Just two of the 31 best running teams of all time won more than 11 games: the 1998 49ers, who lost in the divisional playoffs, and the 1934 Bears, who went a remarkable 13-0 behind the performance of Beattie Feathers (still-record 8.4 YPA), but then lost the Giants, 30-13, in an icy NFL championship game. The combined record of the 31 greatest running teams of all time is 260-177-4 (.594). That's good. It's not great.

 

The Rams of the 1950s were probably the greatest running team of all time.

The 1950s Rams are famed for their great passing attacks and proverbial "point-a-minute" offenses that were led by a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield. But you could argue that these teams were carried by their great ground attacks and a fleet of amazing ballcarriers that included Glenn Davis, Tank Younger and Dan Towler. Of the 28 greatest running attacks of all time, four belonged to these Rams teams in 1951, 1953, 1956 and 1958. (Read more about those great 1950s Rams teams here.)

 

Nobody on the list ran the ball more than the 1973 Bills, an amazing 605 attempts in 14 games. They were led, of course, by O.J. Simpson, who mercilessly slashed his way through the opposition that year on his way to becoming the first 2,000-yard ballcarrier (2,003 yards).

 

The 1973 Bills averaged 43.2 rush attempts per game. Among those teams on our list, only the 1934 Bears ran more often, 43.6 attempts per game. The 1975 Bills, meanwhile, are third on our list, with an average of 42.0 rush attempts per game (588 in 14 games). To put these numbers into perspective, the Falcons led the NFL in 2006 with 33.6 attempts per game.

 

Also, those 1973 Bills attempted just 213 passes, which means they ran the ball on 74 percent of their offensive plays. Ahh, the good old days of the ground game.

 

Shocker! Michael Vick's loss hurts the Falcons.

Several sources, including the Cold, Hard Football Facts, have offered the idea that Vick would have been (or would be if he returns to the NFL), a better running back than a quarterback. We cited as evidence his poor passing numbers, yet his record-setting rushing numbers, including a record career average of 7.3 YPA. We can also now look at his 2004 and 2006 Falcons teams, which stand as two of the 18 best running attacks of all time, thanks largely to Vick's gaudy numbers. Surely, his average-per-attempt would drop drastically if he were a running back and a not a quarterback. But it's hard to argue that his running capabilities are amazing and, at this point, record-setting. The Falcons last year had the second best ground game of the Super Bowl Era (see that list below), averaging nearly 5.5 YPA. With Vick heading to prison, the Falcons this year average just 3.7 YPA, a dramatic drop of about one-third in per-carry production.

 

We've said it time an again: it's better to be good in many areas, than dominant in one. This list is simply more proof. If it paid to dominate running the ball the way so many believe, than this list would be dominated by more winners than it is.

 

It's better to be a great passing team than a great running team.

Sure, this assertion utterly refutes conventional wisdom. But the Cold, Hard Football Facts utterly support it. Five of the 20 best passing attacks of the Super Bowl Era went on to win the big game, and the list includes some of the great, legendary teams of all time (such as the dominant 1968 Colts who list to the Jets in Super Bowl III, and the undefeated Dolphins of 1972). This list of the 20 best ground attacks of the Super Bowl Era (below) doesn't include a single champion.

 

	Team	Record	Att.	Yards	Avg.
1	1997 Lions	9-7 (lost WC)	447	2464	5.512
2	2006 Falcons	7-9	537	2939	5.473
3	2002 Vikings	6-10	473	2507	5.300
4	1984 Rams	10-6 (lost WC)	541	2864	5.294
5	1990 Lions	6-10	366	1927	5.265
6	1966 Browns	9-5	415	2166	5.219
7	1998 49ers	12-4 (lost div. playoff)	491	2544	5.181
8	2002 Chiefs	8-8	462	2378	5.147
9	2003 Chargers	4-12	417	2146	5.146
10	1994 Lions	9-7 (lost WC)	406	2080	5.123
11	1973 Bills	9-5	605	3088	5.104
12	2004 Falcons	11-5 (lost NFC title)	524	2672	5.099
13	1966 Chiefs (AFL)	11-2-1 (lost SB)	448	2274	5.076
14	1972 Steelers	11-3 (lost AFC title)	497	2520	5.070
15	1975 Bills	8-6	588	2974	5.058
16	2003 Packers	10-6 (lost. div. playoff)	507	2558	5.045
17	1985 Colts	5-11	485	2439	5.029
18	1999 49ers	4-12	418	2095	5.012
19	1971 Dolphins	10-3-1 (lost AFC title)	486	2429	4.998
20	1976 Patriots	11-3 (lost div. playoff)	591	2948	4.988