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Factoid

Arizona Cardinals

News flash: Arizona has a running game

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
YearCoachAttYardsAvgTDRank
1995Buddy Ryan3831,3903.61130
1996Vince Tobin4011,5023.7825
1997Vince Tobin3951,2553.2930
1998Vince Tobin4501,6273.61821
1999Vince Tobin3961,2073.01329
2000Vince Tobin3431,2783.7627
2001Dave McGinnis4001,4493.61027
2002Dave McGinnis4141,8234.41015
2003Dave McGinnis4031,5313.8529
2004Dennis Green4751,6683.51522
2005Dennis Green3601,1383.2232
2006Dennis Green4191,3383.21230
2007Ken Whisenhunt4021,4403.6929
2008Ken Whisenhunt3401,1783.51432
2009Ken Whisenhunt3651,4944.11628
2010Ken Whisenhunt3201,3884.3932
2011Ken Whisenhunt3891,6254.21224
2012Ken Whisenhunt3521,2043.41032
2013Bruce Arians4221,5403.61223
2014Bruce Arians3971,3083.3631
2015Bruce Arians4521,9174.2168

—Ian Allan

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