Credit must be given to Bruce Arians. He did what in recent years hasn’t seemed possible – develop a viable running game in Arizona. The Cardinals had a good running game last year, and that’s something they haven’t been able to say in years.
Arizona ranked 8th in rushing last year, with 1,917 yards, and they did it without a running quarterback. They had pocket passer Carson Palmer behind center, so they weren’t getting a 400-yard boost from having a dual-threat quarterback like Russell Wilson or Cam Newton.
Previously the Cardinals ranked in the bottom 10 in rushing 10 years in a row. In their previous 20 seasons, in fact, they ranked in the top 20 only once – when they finished 15th in 2002.
Well done, Mr. Arians.
ARIZONA RUSHING SINCE 1995 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Coach | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Rank |
1995 | Buddy Ryan | 383 | 1,390 | 3.6 | 11 | 30 |
1996 | Vince Tobin | 401 | 1,502 | 3.7 | 8 | 25 |
1997 | Vince Tobin | 395 | 1,255 | 3.2 | 9 | 30 |
1998 | Vince Tobin | 450 | 1,627 | 3.6 | 18 | 21 |
1999 | Vince Tobin | 396 | 1,207 | 3.0 | 13 | 29 |
2000 | Vince Tobin | 343 | 1,278 | 3.7 | 6 | 27 |
2001 | Dave McGinnis | 400 | 1,449 | 3.6 | 10 | 27 |
2002 | Dave McGinnis | 414 | 1,823 | 4.4 | 10 | 15 |
2003 | Dave McGinnis | 403 | 1,531 | 3.8 | 5 | 29 |
2004 | Dennis Green | 475 | 1,668 | 3.5 | 15 | 22 |
2005 | Dennis Green | 360 | 1,138 | 3.2 | 2 | 32 |
2006 | Dennis Green | 419 | 1,338 | 3.2 | 12 | 30 |
2007 | Ken Whisenhunt | 402 | 1,440 | 3.6 | 9 | 29 |
2008 | Ken Whisenhunt | 340 | 1,178 | 3.5 | 14 | 32 |
2009 | Ken Whisenhunt | 365 | 1,494 | 4.1 | 16 | 28 |
2010 | Ken Whisenhunt | 320 | 1,388 | 4.3 | 9 | 32 |
2011 | Ken Whisenhunt | 389 | 1,625 | 4.2 | 12 | 24 |
2012 | Ken Whisenhunt | 352 | 1,204 | 3.4 | 10 | 32 |
2013 | Bruce Arians | 422 | 1,540 | 3.6 | 12 | 23 |
2014 | Bruce Arians | 397 | 1,308 | 3.3 | 6 | 31 |
2015 | Bruce Arians | 452 | 1,917 | 4.2 | 16 | 8 |
—Ian Allan