When you think of the top rushing teams in the NFL, you will most likely think of teams with star running backs. Teams like the Eagles with LeSean McCoy, the Bears with Matt Forte, the Redskins with Alfred Morris, or even the Packers with Eddie Lacy. However, none of these teams are in the top 10 for rushing yards, which begs the question: Is a solo backfield or a tandem backfield more efficient? Let’s compare the stats.

Solo Backfields

Matt Forte, the star running back for the Chicago Bears, overwhelmingly blows everyone away by playing a whopping 97.00% of the Bears offensive snaps.

Montee Ball, 2^nd year running back for the Denver Broncos, is number two on that list by playing 80.00% of the Broncos offensive plays.

Rashad Jennings plays 72.67% of the Giants offensive plays.

LeSean McCoy plays 71% of the Eagles offensive snaps.

Darren McFadden played in 70.33% of the Raiders offense.

How do these teams’ rank league wide in their running attack?

The Chicago Bears, led by Forte, are 20^th among all NFL teams in Rushing YDS/G while the Broncos, Giants, Eagles, and Raiders’ are 27^th, 16^th, 26^th, and 32^nd in that order.

Tandem Backfields

Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory are respectively getting 40.33% and 38.67% of the Jets offensive snaps.

Terrence West (56%) and Isiah Crowell (35.00%) of the Browns.

Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller of the Bills are getting 54.33% and 43.67% respectively.

The Colts’ Ahmad Bradshaw surprisingly has a higher percentage of snaps played (51.33%) than Trent Richardson does (44.00%).

Joique Bell is in 52.67% of the Lions’ offensive snaps while Reggie Bush is only in 44.67%.

How do these teams’ rank league wide with their running attack?

The Jets, led by Johnson and Ivory, are 2^nd among all NFL teams in Rushing YDS/G while the Browns, Bills, Colts, and Lions are 10^th, 13^th, 18^th, and 25^th in that order.

So what does this mean? Well, the stats clearly show that teams with a backfield duo are able to average more yards per game than a solo backfield. But come on, would you ever really want Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson over LeSean McCoy?

Stats from rotogrinders.com