Eh..... I think the OL worked better than most want to give credit. Matt threw for 4000 yards, was among the least sacked QBs in the league, Arian ran for 1400 yards & led the league in rushing TDs.
The problem was that they weren't worth a crap when we needed them to be. 3rd & 1, when we needed that yard, or 3rd & 18 when we needed that protection. That's when they failed us the most & I think we can expect improvement in those areas in the second years of Brooks, Jones, & Newton's (as a starter). I don't see any reason to believe Wade Smith will improve in this area especially since we were hoping he'd improve in this area after an abysmal 2011.
Yes Foster did run for 1400 yards, but how many rushes did he have ? Here lets break it down.....
Games with less than 4.0 yards per carry
(7-9)Miami 79 yards 3.0 ypc 2 TD W
(2-14)Jacksonville 110 yards 3.9 ypc 1 TD W
(6-10)Titans 86 yards 3.6 ypc 1 TD W
(11-5)Greenbay 29 yards 1.7 ypc 2 TD L
(10-6)Chicago 102 yards 3.5 ypc 0 TD W
(2-14)Jacksonville 90 yards 3.2 ypc 0 TD W
(6-10)Titans 38 yards 2.7 ypc 1 TD W
(12-4)New England 46 yards for 3.1 1 TD L
(10-6)Vikings 15 yards 1.5 ypc 0 TD L
Opp Record (66-78) 595 yards on 191 rushes for 2.9 yards 8 Rush TDs a 6-3 Record
Games with more than 4.0 yards per carry
(13-3)Denver 105 yards 4.2 ypc 0 TD W
(6-10)Jets 152 yards 5.2 ypc 1 TD W
(10-6)Baltimore 98 yards 5.2 ypc 2 TD W
(6-10)Buffalo 111 yards 4.6 ypc 1 TD W
(4-12)Detroit 102 yards 5.1 ypc 2 TD W
(11-5)Colts 165 yards 6.1 ypc 0 TD W
(11-5)Colts 96 yards 6.0 ypc 1 TD L
Opp Record (61-51) 829 yards on 160 rushes for 5.2 yards 7 Rush TDs a 6-1 Record
Ok here is a more in depth look at his numbers. On the top you will see where he had under 4.0 ypc in games, we played the jags twice and titans twice in those games.
The titans ranked 24th in opp rushing yards per game allowing 127 ypg
The Jags ranked 30th in opp rushing yards per game allowing 141 ypg
Ok the second row is where he had over a 4.0 ypc in games. We played the colts twice. We played Denver we had a 31-11 lead before the Denver Rally.
The Colts ranked 29th in opp rushing yards per game allowing 137.5 ypg
The Broncos ranked 3rd in opp rushing yards per game allowing 91.1 ypg
The Ravens ranked 20th in opp rushing yards per game allowing 122.8 ypg
Sure there are certain situations to where we were down and had to rally, but there is no consistencey here. We did not dominate the weaker teams and get beat down by the better teams. In fact it appears we struggled more against the weaker teams, minus the colts who had the 3rd worst rushing defense. My point is if u go back 2 seasons ago you will see that we were dominant regardless of who we played. That should be a concern to some people. It is to me