I compiled stats last year for the first half of the season, and I shared it on TBD several times...we didnt ALWAYS run it up the gut on first down...but when we did, it tended to lead to 3 and outs almost 60 percent of the time...drives that began with a pass, led to sustained drives (6 plays or more) and points far more frequently than the "jam it up the middle plays"
Hopefully, if we claim to be such an analytically inclined organization, some stat guy is sitting at OBD compiling those same stats that I did and hands his reports to our coaching staff, who in turn say "Duh! Maybe I shouldnt jam it up the middle on more than half of every drive, and mix in some throws, which softens the defense, opens up the run game and leads to points!"
But, EJ absolutely needs to stay healthy and improve so that all around him on offense (and subsequently) defense, can get better
PLAYOFFS!