Five teams ran the ball dramatically better in the second half of last season, and it won’t be long before we’ll start finding out if that spills over into this season. Three of those teams are playing in the early games next week – Patriots, 49ers and Rams.
The other dramatically improved run games from last week will need to wait until Sunday – Dolphins and Steelers (and both of those teams have new head coaches).
Miami last year had the 2nd-most improved run game of the last five years, at least in terms of comparing production in the first half of the season versus the second. Using traditional fantasy scoring (1 point for every 10 yards and 6 points for touchdowns), Miami ranked 28th in average per-game rushing in the first half of last season, but zoomed up to 5th in the final nine weeks.
More notable are those three playoff teams from last year, with the Patriots improving from 18th to 2nd, the Rams using extra tight ends to scream up from 30th to 15th, and the 49ers improving from 26th to 12th.
For those hoping to start guys like Blake Corum (pictured) or TreVeyon Henderson, the hope is those teams can run it something like they did in the second half of last year.
Looking at the 160 teams from the last five years, only 28 improved by at least 10 spots when looking at first half versus second half.
| MOST IMPROVED RUSHING TEAMS (last 5 yrs) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Wks 1-9 | Rk | Wks 10-18 | Rk | Diff |
| 2022 | Pittsburgh | 8-759-4 | 28 | 9-1314-12 | 4 | 24 |
| 2025 | Miami | 9-875-4 | 28 | 8-1169-10 | 5 | 23 |
| 2023 | Pittsburgh | 8-724-4 | 26 | 9-1286-12 | 5 | 21 |
| 2025 | New England | 9-1011-8 | 18 | 8-1180-14 | 2 | 16 |
| 2023 | Cincinnati | 8-607-3 | 31 | 9-920-9 | 15 | 16 |
| 2021 | NY Jets | 8-617-5 | 29 | 9-1050-9 | 13 | 16 |
| 2025 | LA Rams | 8-895-5 | 21 | 9-1257-12 | 6 | 15 |
| 2024 | Carolina | 9-912-7 | 26 | 8-966-11 | 11 | 15 |
| 2022 | LA Rams | 8-547-6 | 30 | 9-1114-9 | 15 | 15 |
| 2022 | Indianapolis | 9-780-3 | 31 | 8-1086-5 | 16 | 15 |
| 2022 | Carolina | 9-948-8 | 21 | 8-1262-8 | 6 | 15 |
| 2025 | San Francisco | 9-874-5 | 26 | 8-943-10 | 12 | 14 |
| 2024 | Atlanta | 9-1066-6 | 22 | 8-1153-12 | 8 | 14 |
| 2022 | San Francisco | 8-956-7 | 16 | 9-1404-13 | 2 | 14 |
| 2022 | Green Bay | 9-1086-3 | 25 | 8-1027-9 | 11 | 14 |
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | 8-698-5 | 27 | 9-1058-11 | 14 | 13 |
| 2023 | Houston | 8-696-3 | 29 | 9-951-7 | 17 | 12 |
| 2022 | Washington | 9-972-4 | 26 | 8-1171-5 | 14 | 12 |
| 2022 | Buffalo | 8-994-6 | 17 | 8-1238-9 | 5 | 12 |
| 2024 | Tampa Bay | 9-1143-7 | 16 | 8-1393-9 | 5 | 11 |
| 2021 | Green Bay | 9-987-5 | 25 | 8-913-8 | 14 | 11 |
| 2024 | NY Giants | 9-1032-5 | 25 | 8-751-8 | 15 | 10 |
| 2024 | LA Rams | 8-777-8 | 24 | 9-988-7 | 14 | 10 |
| 2024 | Dallas | 8-656-3 | 32 | 9-1049-3 | 22 | 10 |
| 2021 | Seattle | 8-823-7 | 16 | 9-1251-11 | 6 | 10 |
| 2021 | Miami | 9-676-5 | 31 | 8-892-7 | 21 | 10 |
| 2021 | Kansas City | 9-1011-6 | 19 | 8-944-10 | 9 | 10 |
| 2021 | Denver | 9-1019-6 | 18 | 8-1006-10 | 8 | 10 |
Asking teams to maintain excellence, of course, is unrealistic. Of those previous 23 teams, only 6 came back and ranked even higher than they did in the second half of their leap season, and all were teams that ranked 14th or lower in production.
Two teams were able to hold high performance positions: the 2023 49ers, who ranked 2nd in rushing after performing at that clip in the second half of the previous season. And the 2023 Bills, who similarly held at 5th. But 15 of the 23 teams instead fell off at least some in rushing (11 fell by at least 13 spots, and another four fell by at least 7 spots).
In the chart below, the final column shows where teams ranked in rushing (using per-game fantasy scoring) in the second half of the previous season. Teams that didn’t decline are tagged by black dots.
| SAME TEAMS, FOLLOWING YEAR | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yds | TD | Rk | Prev |
| 2026 | New England | ? | ? | ? | ? | 2 |
| 2023 | • San Francisco | 499 | 2,389 | 27 | 2 | 2 |
| 2023 | Pittsburgh | 487 | 2,010 | 16 | 12 | 4 |
| 2026 | Miami | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 |
| 2025 | Tampa Bay | 472 | 1,947 | 13 | 20 | 5 |
| 2024 | Pittsburgh | 533 | 2,166 | 14 | 12 | 5 |
| 2023 | • Buffalo | 512 | 2,212 | 22 | 5 | 5 |
| 2026 | LA Rams | ? | ? | ? | ? | 6 |
| 2023 | Carolina | 445 | 1,769 | 7 | 28 | 6 |
| 2022 | Seattle | 425 | 2,042 | 12 | 19 | 6 |
| 2022 | Denver | 444 | 1,935 | 11 | 23 | 8 |
| 2025 | Atlanta | 477 | 2,138 | 17 | 13 | 8 |
| 2022 | Kansas City | 417 | 1,970 | 18 | 14 | 9 |
| 2025 | Carolina | 461 | 1,977 | 9 | 25 | 11 |
| 2023 | Green Bay | 441 | 1,905 | 10 | 18 | 11 |
| 2026 | San Francisco | ? | ? | ? | ? | 12 |
| 2022 | NY Jets | 405 | 1,686 | 13 | 26 | 13 |
| 2026 | Pittsburgh | ? | ? | ? | ? | 14 |
| 2023 | Washington | 359 | 1,592 | 14 | 20 | 14 |
| 2022 | Green Bay | 456 | 2,113 | 12 | 16 | 14 |
| 2025 | • LA Rams | 465 | 2,152 | 17 | 12 | 14 |
| 2024 | Cincinnati | 380 | 1,574 | 11 | 28 | 15 |
| 2023 | • LA Rams | 477 | 2,045 | 18 | 10 | 15 |
| 2025 | • NY Giants | 511 | 2,195 | 22 | 5 | 15 |
| 2023 | • Indianapolis | 479 | 2,059 | 19 | 9 | 16 |
| 2024 | • Houston | 434 | 1,909 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 2022 | Miami | 390 | 1,686 | 12 | 28 | 21 |
| 2025 | • Dallas | 465 | 2,136 | 18 | 11 | 22 |
—Ian Allan

