Bears, Colts Take Two (or Four) Steps Forward

The Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts Are Proving the Teams That Share Can Have It All

MIAMI -- The tailbacks lounged on the bench, relaxing as best they could while contemplating which of them would be tapped next with the Indianapolis Colts clinging to a six-point lead at Baltimore in the AFC semifinals. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes -- virtually interchangeable in the Colts' egalitarian running game -- joked about the uncertainty of the situation, then Rhodes, who had barely stepped onto the field, took over in the fourth quarter.

Rhodes, fresh and hungry for work, rushed 10 times on the ensuing drive and ground out critical yards to set up the field goal that secured the 15-6 win on Jan. 13. One week later, the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis's opponent in today's Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium, used a similar two-tailback attack to finish off New Orleans in the NFC championship game. Thomas Jones rushed eight straight times on one purposeful drive, but backup Cedric Benson actually had more carries in the 39-14 victory.

Both teams are part of an NFL trend toward an expanded backfield, as seven clubs had two players rush at least 150 times this season, more than twice the total of just a few years ago. Like everything else in the NFL, the two-back offense is cyclical. When former running back Merril Hoge, now an NFL analyst for ESPN, entered the league in 1987, many teams used two backs. Then, running out of the I-formation with one back became popular, the trend until Hoge retired in the mid-1990s.

"I think about four or five years ago a lot of teams found that in a lot of situations a couple of guys can be interchangeable," Hoge said. "They started to realize it may not be smart to have one guy carry it 350 times, because that's very tough and your career is cut much shorter. So now they look at it like, 'How can we highlight that one guy, but keep him productive for a longer period of time?' "

The four teams that participated in this season's conference championship games all used multiple ballcarriers rather than rely on one featured back. In the case of Chicago and Indianapolis, the tailbacks are generally among the last to know which one is about to yank on his helmet and race to the huddle at the start of an offensive series.

"Both of us are sitting over there on the bench [in Baltimore] like: 'Are you going in? Do you think you're going in?' " said Rhodes, who started every game in the regular season but has been the second option in the playoffs. "And we don't know who's going in until [running backs coach Gene Huey] says who we're going to go with. We're trained really to be ready to go in at a moment's notice.

"When I'm called on, I've got to be ready to go, and they called on me at that time to propel us to the next week, and I was able to perform in the clutch and help my team to a victory."

Beyond the opening series -- when the starting back plays -- little is certain. Coaches for both Super Bowl teams said the flow of the game and momentum can sway the direction of the ball from one tailback to another. The Bears, for instance, generally make a concerted effort to get Benson, in his second season, some carries on one of the first few drives of a game. Should he become particularly effective, offensive coordinator Ron Turner might end up sticking with him.

"It's kept us fresh and we complement each other well with the way we run," Jones said. "We have different running styles and it's something that's been very successful for us. So when you're in the game, you're in the game and you try to take advantage of the opportunity."

Jones, a disappointment in Arizona and Tampa Bay before emerging in Chicago, and Benson are more contrasting players in the way the Bears use them than are Addai and Rhodes, and Chicago is also a more run-oriented team overall. Jones is generally not as decisive as Benson, darting to the outside and given to breaking off longer chunks of yardage. Though similar in size, Benson is more of a sledgehammer, pounding away at the heart of the defense for the smaller gains that often open up larger running lanes as the game drags on.

"Thomas and Cedric are feeding off one another," Turner said. "Like in the last game, we got Cedric in early, got him some carries and I think Thomas looked at that and said, 'Hey, I'd better get going.' And we had one drive where we used him eight times for 68 yards and a touchdown.

"We go into every game with a plan for them, and know Thomas might take the first two series, but once the game gets going we talk about it and if they're both going about the same we just alternate them every series."

Turner and running backs coach Tim Spencer generally sort out the rotation among themselves, while Indianapolis offensive coordinator Tom Moore said that Colts Coach Tony Dungy is usually deeply involved in the decision of when and where to mix up their tailbacks.

Addai, a rookie, was brought along slowly at first, and needed time to process the Colts' complex offense, with quarterback Peyton Manning changing plays and making myriad adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Adapting to the pass protection chores was difficult at first, but as Addai progressed he became the more prominent runner, even when not starting.

The players are similar -- Addai is slightly bigger and generally used more in the red zone -- and it was reflected in the team statistics: The Colts were the only team with two backs with more than 185 carries; Addai ran 226 times, and Rhodes 187 times. Rhodes's experience remains valuable however and, although Addai has sure hands as well, the Colts sometimes use Rhodes to finish off a game when a turnover would be disastrous.

"Each game has its own personality," Moore said. "To sit down on a Tuesday or Wednesday and be clairvoyant enough to make all these decisions, I'm not very good at that. As the game goes along you get a flow and see what happens. I'd like to think I have the flexibility to not get into a predetermined thinking that this is what we're going to do and nothing else. You've got to go with the flow of the game."

All of the running backs involved in this Super Bowl said that the liberal substitution throughout the season has helped them withstand the rigors of a brutally physical position. The strain of an additional 50 carries or so in the regular season can wear down and shorten a career. Coaches around the league are taking note.

Three years ago, for instance, four players rushed 350 times or more; in 2006, just one player did so. More teams are adopting the platoon system, including the Washington Redskins: Star tailback Clinton Portis succumbed to injury this past season after rushing 695 times in 2004 and '05; backup Ladell Betts, who thrived in his absence, is primed to take on a bigger role next season.

"You really need to have two running backs you feel comfortable using at any time to keep the running game going, and really probably three," said Redskins running backs coach Earnest Byner, who was part of a split backfield at times in his career. "You want to make sure you have those things in place, and that number two guy -- or 1A and 1B -- you need that, because you can't just bank on one guy being able to get it done for all 16 games."

Often, though, teams that rely on multiple backs do so as a function of not having a premier rusher at their disposal. In 2005, for example, the Colts ran Edgerrin James 360 times, but they allowed him to leave for Arizona a year ago in free agency and drafted Addai.

"I think the [tailback rotations] is going on because there is a deficiency of franchise backs," said future Hall of Fame runner Marshall Faulk, who is working as an analyst for the NFL Network. "So teams are keen to understand, 'Okay, this guy can only do so much, so we need to have somebody else when we do X, Y or Z.'

"Indy probably has more of a one-two punch, more of a true split situation because both of those guys probably are just as efficient a runner in the inside and outside, and in pass protection. With Chicago, it's more of a sharing situation based on what you want to do and where you want to run the ball."