Phil The Thrill Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 In looking back on the 2019 season I’m continually perplexed how bad Frank Gore was running the ball. He was completely ineffective and it seemed like every time he carried the ball he ran straight into a brick wall. It was terrible - and yes way worse than Mike Tolbert running the ball in 2017. I have never been more frustrated with a player than I have with Frank Gore running the ball toward the end of the 2019 season. I’ll stand by the fact that I think keeping him active hurt the team and that I get the team would have been better off with Yeldon on the field. He should have not been active....period. But his season didn’t start bad by any means. He was the main RB after Singletary’s injury in Week 2 and he performed well. I split his season up roughly based on the number of carries. These are his numbers in Weeks 1-6: 86 carries for 388 yards 4.5 yards per carry 14.3 carries per game 2 rushing TD’s Weeks 7-16 91 carries for 211 yards 2.3 yards per carry 9.1 carries per game 0 rushing TD’s What inflates these numbers badly is a 27 yard run versus Denver. If you take that out of the mix, Gore was 90 carries for 184 and a whopping 2 yards per carry. So the question is, why did his production drop off? Did they run Gore too hard when Singletary was hurt as opposed to spreading his carries out over the year? Did he get burned out carrying the load early in? Or was Gore so limited that it became predictable when he was in the backfield? Teams knew his limitations and just run blitzed the house to stop him? I do respect what Gore has done and am glad he was a good mentor to Singletary but unless you can turn back the clock 10 years, I never....NEVER want to see him carry the ball for the Bills again. It was just too tragic.
GunnerBill Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 Just now, DFT said: Because he’s 184... 185 actually. 1 1
DFT Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: 185 actually. Agh... forgot to carry the one. Damn pinky finger and tenth decimal point! 2
freddyjj Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 Gore was seldom used in the 11 formation they used in back half of season. When he went on field we lined up in heavy formations more often. As a result lots of 8 or 9 man boxes. He was in when they knew we were running (short yardage, goal line or 4 minute drill). Not a lot of lanes to run through and he was too slow to run outside by design. That's why there will be a new compliment to Motor in 2020. 6 1 1
GG Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 Pretty simple. Singletary's injury forced them to use Gore much more than they expected. 3
Buffalo Junction Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 5 minutes ago, freddyjj said: Gore was seldom used in the 11 formation they used in back half of season. When he went on field we lined up in heavy formations more often. As a result lots of 8 or 9 man boxes. He was in when they knew we were running (short yardage, goal line or 4 minute drill). Not a lot of lanes to run through and he was too slow to run outside by design. That's why there will be a new compliment to Motor in 2020. He’s also too slow and not elusive enough at this point to break off a few long gainers against a stacked box. 1
OldTimer1960 Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 Ultimately, I think his age slowed him down, but I also think play selection got very predictable when he was on the field. It seemed like they felt obligated to get him a number of snaps per game in deference to his career stature and leadership. When he was on the field they almost always gave him the ball. Since he had slowed down, those handoffs were pretty much always between the tackles. 1 1
stuvian Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 as our passing game woes became known to opponents down the stretch, Gore being on the field was a tell for a run play IMO 3
GunnerBill Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 1 minute ago, stuvian said: as our passing game woes became known to opponents down the stretch, Gore being on the field was a tell for a run play IMO Not actually true. He was on the field on passing downs pretty often to pass protect because it was the one thing he still did a lot better than motor. 3
TroutDog Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 6 minutes ago, BUNCH OF MULARKEY said: Sign him! He’s a gamer!
Phil The Thrill Posted March 20, 2020 Author Posted March 20, 2020 19 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said: Ultimately, I think his age slowed him down, but I also think play selection got very predictable when he was on the field. It seemed like they felt obligated to get him a number of snaps per game in deference to his career stature and leadership. When he was on the field they almost always gave him the ball. Since he had slowed down, those handoffs were pretty much always between the tackles. Makes sense. To me, it’s still frustrating how bad he was towards the end of the season. It’s like every time he touched the ball he gained a yard. Every time. I think I have NFL PTSD from watching Gore run the ball over the last few weeks. It’s was disgusting.
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted March 20, 2020 Posted March 20, 2020 40 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said: In looking back on the 2019 season I’m continually perplexed how bad Frank Gore was running the ball.... ...I do respect what Gore has done and am glad he was a good mentor to Singletary but unless you can turn back the clock 10 years, I never....NEVER want to see him carry the ball for the Bills again. It was just too tragic. Not as tragic as not having a blog, or not hosting the 7-9 p.m. slot on GR
Phil The Thrill Posted March 20, 2020 Author Posted March 20, 2020 30 minutes ago, GG said: Pretty simple. Singletary's injury forced them to use Gore much more than they expected. So you’re saying he got burned out and ran out of gas? Some would believe that it was playcalling that doomed Gore. Either way it was ugly 1
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