There’s three things that every good running game has to have every play of every game to be successful.
1. HAT ON A HAT-You simply cannot afford to turn people loose inside the box. When one player either blows the play mentally, or whiffs physically, it doesn’t matter if you have a backfield of Marcus Allen, Jim Brown or Marion Motley carrying the pigskin. You’re dead in the water. And you might get someone knocked out.
2. RE-ESTABLISH THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BALL-The best lines are the most physical lines. The ones that come after the defenders and put’em on their heels. When you can manhandle the front seven defenders through proper aggressive blocking schematics and technique, you could have a backfield of Curly, Larry and Moe and still have a pretty good run game. Nobody does the Curly Shuffle like the man himself.
3. BLOCK UNTIL THE ECHO OF THE WHISTLE-Ultimately offensive line play is characterized by effort. Total effort. Yeah, standing 6’5″ and weighing in the neighborhood of a small Killer Whale will help, but it’s the attitude that matters more when you’re pulverizing in the pits. Athleticism is an important ingredient certainly, but i have seen many lesser gifted men carve a great career out simply by going 100% every time the ball is snapped. And don’t even try to tell me about 110%. As Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen once sang in their classic song Hot Rod Lincoln, “That’s all there is and there ain’t no more.”
