The Fall of the Running Back in the N.F.L.

On the 18th of November in 1979 Dan Fouts and the San Diego Chargers heralded in a new Philosophy that would dictate the way the game would be played to this very day. The Chargers, a team that lived by the pass would shock a Superbowl bound Pittsburgh Steeler team populated with the likes of Bradshaw, Harris, Swan, and Stallworth on Offense and the original Steel Curtain force on Defense. The Chargers took the air game to its highest level perhaps, Air-Coryell it was called, pitting it against a team that identified itself as a rushing team but, as said, was also armed with the most dominating defense of the era along with it's own excellent passing game to boot. The game ended in a shocking 35-7 drubbing of the Steelers who then must have had the suspicion that their dominance of the AFC would soon end. And it did the following year.

Significant is the contrast of philosophies. Throughout the League, teams had attempted to build successful ground games, spearheaded by a star running back and a second, dependable supportive runner to block for him and occasionally run as well. The Offense's were built to take a more methodical approach to the game in which the ground game was the primary attack, the air game playing, thereby, an augmentative, supportive role.

Coryell changed all of that, making the pass the primary attack. Henceforth, the ground game would be a mere augmentation of the air game and the wheels of present day football began to roll. Bill Walsh would follow Coryell's philisophical footsteps with his 49'ers winning division titles and 5 Super bowls over the course of 18 straight winning seasons without the need of a mainstay star running back.

Time certainly has changed and players have become significantly larger, faster and much stronger than players of earlier decades. A fugue-like, electrifying offense is the song of today's NFL and passing it's lyrics. The result has been a permanent change of priorities where lightning speed and fast breakaway scoring have laid the methodical football of earlier times to rest forever. Running squads now share the task star running backs previously reserved for themselves. The financial repercussions of this development are sure to be negatively felt by running backs throughout the league in the very near future.

Remember the patriots passing on three downs close to the goal line with everything still on the line in the AFC championship game of 2010? This was a classic situation for the running game in earlier times. Not anymore. The Patriots have probably never seriously toyed with the idea of recruiting a star running back and as disappointed as their fans may be after a Superbowl-less season, they are nonetheless the NFL's best organization and team. No other organization has weathered the years and change as well as they.

This year the Steelers suffered their second loss in 8 Superbowl visits, the nail in their coffin was a fumble by their star running back. Maybe the guy was a bit tired. Maybe not. But in a rotation system you've always got a fresh pair of legs in there. And coaches know it.

-Dave