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Running it back

Bills, Rams get 2nd chance at big-time runners

It’s an unusual pair of games that are queued up for Sunday. In both cases, we’re looking at rematches of blowouts that featured one team simply running the ball down the throat of the other. The Ravens ran over the Bills early in the season, and the Eagles ran for 314 yards in a Sunday nighter at SoFi.

This had me picking through the historical numbers, looking for similar games from the past. How have other such games gone?

With a mixture of automized sifting and looking up by hand, I see 40 such games in the 32-team era where one team ran for at least 250 yards against an opponent, then played against that opponent again. (I may have missed a couple of such games, but we got enough to work with.)

No team wants to endure the embarrassment of simply being physically manhandled, so I would guess that they would tend to be a lot better the second time around. Lineups and schemes would tend to change – force an opponent to beat you in another way.

I see only two in the postseason. The Patriots and Broncos were involved in a pair of such games a dozen years ago. And these Eagles had one of these games two years ago, running over the Giants late in the year, meeting them again in a meaningless Week 18 game, then running them over again in the postseason (268 yards and 3 TDs).

One of our principals for the weekend had a couple of these matchups when he was with the Titans, and in both cases they followed up dominant games against Houston with more dominant games.

There have been two of these situations with the Eagles and Giants in the last three seasons. In both cases, the rematch occurred in Week 18, with teams resting players. But in 2022, those teams met again in the playoffs, with Philadelphia running for 268 yards and 3 TDs. (I would not bet against Saquon Barkley this week.)

Of these 40 rematch games, the offenses averaged 147 rushing yards in the rematches, with 48 rushing touchdowns. Those numbers would be a notch higher if they weren’t watered down by a few season-ending games (with teams resting players).

RUNNING IT BACK AGAIN
YearTeamOppResultAttYardsTDRematch
2002Atlantaat N.O.W 37-3538260437-155-1
2002PhiladelphiaNYGW 17-340295123-65-1
2003BaltimoreCle.W 33-1341343241-276-3
2003Baltimoreat Cle.W 35-041276337-162-0
2004Denverat Oak.W 31-351254134-122-1
2005NY GiantsWas.W 36-045262219-99-0
2006Atlantaat Car.W 20-647252019-83-0
2006AtlantaT.B.W 14-344306134-139-1
2006San FranciscoSea.W 20-1434262138-228-1
2007Tennesseeat Jac.W 13-1049282119-62-0
2007Minnesotaat Chi.W 34-3143311334-136-2
2008Oaklandat K.C.W 23-847300229-139-1
2009DallasNYGL 31-3329251323-45-0
2009San FranciscoSea.W 23-1029256212-53-0
2009MiamiBuff.W 38-1045250337-157-1
2009Carolinaat T.B.W 28-2148267333-157-1
2009NY JetsBuff.L 13-1640318143-249-0
2010HoustonInd.W 34-2442257318-108-1
2010NY Jetsat Buff.W 38-1449273250-276-2
2010Oaklandat Den.W 59-1452328541-264-3
2010San Franciscoat Ari.W 27-647261225-100-2
2011DenverN.E.L 23-4131252340-144-1
2013Philadelphiaat Was.W 33-2749263233-126-3
2013Denverat N.E.L 31-3448280128-107-0
2014Philadelphiaat Dall.W 33-1045256221-75-3
2014NY JetsMia.L 13-1649277134-104-1
2016CincinnatiCle.W 31-1730271238-213-1
2016MiamiBuff.W 28-2542256238-261-2
2018HoustonTen.W 34-1734281216-105-0
2019BaltimoreCin.W 23-1743269223-136-2
2019IndianapolisJac.W 33-1336264327-132-2
2020Green BayDet.W 42-2135259231-120-1
2020• TennesseeHou.W 42-3627263241-288-4
2020BaltimorePitt.L 24-2847265128-129-1
2020MinnesotaDet.W 34-2034275231-125-2
2022• Tennesseeat Hou.W 17-1045314231-184-2
2022ChicagoDet.L 30-3135258222-200-0
2022Philadelphiaat NYGW 48-2231253434-135-1
2024BaltimoreBuff.W 35-10342712?-?-?
2024Tampa Bayat N.O.W 51-2735277231-176-1
2024• Philadelphiaat NYGW 28-345269325-51-0
2024Philadelphiaat LARW 37-20453143?-?-?

—Ian Allan

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