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Factoid

Keeping it going?

Looking at the most improved run games

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)
YearTeamWks 1-9RkWks 10-18RkDiff
2022Pittsburgh8-759-4289-1314-12424
2025Miami9-875-4288-1169-10523
2023Pittsburgh8-724-4269-1286-12521
2025New England9-1011-8188-1180-14216
2023Cincinnati8-607-3319-920-91516
2021NY Jets8-617-5299-1050-91316
2025LA Rams8-895-5219-1257-12615
2024Carolina9-912-7268-966-111115
2022LA Rams8-547-6309-1114-91515
2022Indianapolis9-780-3318-1086-51615
2022Carolina9-948-8218-1262-8615
2025San Francisco9-874-5268-943-101214
2024Atlanta9-1066-6228-1153-12814
2022San Francisco8-956-7169-1404-13214
2022Green Bay9-1086-3258-1027-91114
2025Pittsburgh8-698-5279-1058-111413
2023Houston8-696-3299-951-71712
2022Washington9-972-4268-1171-51412
2022Buffalo8-994-6178-1238-9512
2024Tampa Bay9-1143-7168-1393-9511
2021Green Bay9-987-5258-913-81411
2024NY Giants9-1032-5258-751-81510
2024LA Rams8-777-8249-988-71410
2024Dallas8-656-3329-1049-32210
2021Seattle8-823-7169-1251-11610
2021Miami9-676-5318-892-72110
2021Kansas City9-1011-6198-944-10910
2021Denver9-1019-6188-1006-10810

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
YearTeamAttYdsTDRkPrev
2026New England????2
2023• San Francisco4992,3892722
2023Pittsburgh4872,01016124
2026Miami????5
2025Tampa Bay4721,94713205
2024Pittsburgh5332,16614125
2023• Buffalo5122,2122255
2026LA Rams????6
2023Carolina4451,7697286
2022Seattle4252,04212196
2022Denver4441,93511238
2025Atlanta4772,13817138
2022Kansas City4171,97018149
2025Carolina4611,97792511
2023Green Bay4411,905101811
2026San Francisco????12
2022NY Jets4051,686132613
2026Pittsburgh????14
2023Washington3591,592142014
2022Green Bay4562,113121614
2025• LA Rams4652,152171214
2024Cincinnati3801,574112815
2023• LA Rams4772,045181015
2025• NY Giants5112,19522515
2023• Indianapolis4792,05919916
2024• Houston4341,909151617
2022Miami3901,686122821
2025• Dallas4652,136181122

—Ian Allan

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