Top 5 NFL rushing leaders - who will win?
NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to beat the St. Louis Rams 41 - 24, but at a great cost.
Willie Parker, the NFL’s leading rusher, left the game after the Steelers’ second play from scrimmage with a broken right leg, and the Pro Bowler is out for the rest of the season.
Parker, who entered the game with 1,317 rushing yards, got tackled by Rams linebacker Will Weatherspoon for a one-yard loss and his lower leg appeared to buckle as he crumpled to the turf at Edward Jones Dome. source
Who will win the rushing crown? Be sure to vote in the poll to your right and pick your winner!
This is how it reads as of today.
1. Willie Parker PIT 1316
2. LaDainian Tomlinson SD 1311
3. Adrian Peterson MIN 1278
4. Willis McGahee BAL 1197
5. Brian Westbrook PHI 1191
Parker with -1 yards rushing against St. Louis, ends up with 1,316 yards.
LaDainian Tomlinson early favorite
LT has been on a monster run with 177 yards against the Chiefs, 146 against the Titans, and 116 against my sad sack Lions. He has averaged over 6.8 yards per carry during the last 3 games.
LT is in this weeks Monday night game with Denver and although Denver is not very good against the rush, Monday Night Football is sometimes bizarre and how much will LT play in this game?
LT’s last game is the 4:15 game with the Oakland Raiders and they are a dandy 31st against the rush.
With the Chargers having the AFC West wrapped up, how much will LT play is another question.
Adrian Peterson the great challenger
Adrian Peterson is coming off the bizarre San Francisco game where he had 3 yards and the Bears game with 78 yards.
The Vikings play the late late game Sunday against Washington and the Skins are 9th against the rush holding opponents to under 100 yards per game.
The Vikings are still in the hunt for the wildcard and play Denver in the 4:15 game for their final game of the regular season. So there is no question Adrian will be running hard and Denver is 29th against the rush.
This should be good. LT and Adrian both playing in late Sunday games by my Midwestern perspective, possibly vying for the rushing crown.
Willis McGahee long shot
McGahee averages a lot few yards per carry with 3.6 and 2.6 yards per carry in his last two games, but he is getting a lot of carries. He will need them at that pace. Just to overtake Parker will mean rushing for 119 yards. He has exceeded that amount only 1 time this year.
Baltimore is out of the playoffs and faces Seattle and Pittsburgh in their last two games. Seattle is 13th against the rush and if they get a lead on Baltimore, will force Baltimore to pass a lot. Pittsburgh is 3rd against the rush.
This pretty much makes McGahee a long shot for the rushing crown.
Brian Westbrook dark horse
Westbrook is so consistent it is hard to imagine him doing anything other that averaging close to 100 yards in each of his last two games. The Eagles play the Saints this Sunday and the Saints are a sterling 8th against the rush. In the last game the Eagles play the Bills and they are 16th against the rush giving up 116 per game.
Who will win?
It looks like a two man race between LT and Peterson with a slight edge to LT, because he is on such a roll and faces two weak opponents. On Peterson’s side is the fact that LT may not play that much in those games.
NFL Football Fan Question Who will win the rushing crown?
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POSTED IN: Adrian Peterson, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, LaDainian Tomlinson, Minnesota Vikings, NFL Football, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Predictions, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins, fantasy football
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