Over the course of the last two seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a lead in the fourth quarter in 17 of the 32 games that they have played. While they did manage to win 14 of those games, they weren’t able to run the ball effectively in those situations. In fact, when you remove the kneel downs, they only managed 3.02 yards a carry.
This past offseason, running back LeGarrette Blount was signed during free agency and one would think that Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley plans on using him quite a bit in the fourth quarter of games that the team is leading in. Why? Because since he came into the league, Blount has proven to be very effective in those situations.
Dating back to 2010, there have 83 running backs that have carried the football with the lead in the fourth quarter of games more than 30 times and Blount’s 5.5 average yards per carry in those situations ranks him fourth on that list of players behind only Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy and DeMarco Murray. Not only that, Blount has never fumbled during any of those 104 carries, according to Pro Football Reference.
Having a player like Blount, who can come into games late and produce when defenses expect the run will also save some wear and tear on starter Le’Veon Bell, who during his rookie season averaged a dismal 2.32 yards per carry on his 37 fourth quarter runs with the Steelers leading on the scoreboard.
This all adds up to the Steelers using a lot of “Blount force” in the fourth quarter of games when they are winning in 2014.
2010-2013 4th Quarter Running Back Stats With Lead (Min 31 Rushes)
| PLAYER | RUSH | YDS | AVG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaal Charles | 114 | 685 | 6.01 | 2 |
| LeSean McCoy | 149 | 842 | 5.65 | 4 |
| DeMarco Murray | 56 | 309 | 5.52 | 0 |
| LeGarrette Blount | 104 | 572 | 5.50 | 5 |
| Donald Brown | 58 | 294 | 5.07 | 3 |
| Isaac Redman | 54 | 271 | 5.02 | 2 |
| Justin Forsett | 43 | 215 | 5.00 | 2 |
| Kendall Hunter | 91 | 449 | 4.93 | 4 |
| Adrian Peterson | 115 | 562 | 4.89 | 3 |
| Darren Sproles | 36 | 176 | 4.89 | 1 |
| Ahmad Bradshaw | 114 | 543 | 4.76 | 3 |
| Joique Bell | 40 | 190 | 4.75 | 2 |
| Willis McGahee | 84 | 388 | 4.62 | 2 |
| Jason Snelling | 51 | 231 | 4.53 | 2 |
| Doug Martin | 75 | 338 | 4.51 | 4 |
| Ricky Williams | 63 | 284 | 4.51 | 3 |
| Ben Tate | 59 | 263 | 4.46 | 1 |
| Chris Johnson | 150 | 657 | 4.38 | 3 |
| Ryan Mathews | 142 | 617 | 4.35 | 4 |
| Mike Tolbert | 84 | 363 | 4.32 | 5 |
| Beanie Wells | 44 | 189 | 4.30 | 2 |
| Reggie Bush | 85 | 365 | 4.29 | 2 |
| Chris Ivory | 81 | 346 | 4.27 | 1 |
| Matt Forte | 155 | 662 | 4.27 | 0 |
| Frank Gore | 152 | 645 | 4.24 | 5 |
| Jackie Battle | 66 | 279 | 4.23 | 5 |
| Darren McFadden | 79 | 334 | 4.23 | 1 |
| BenJarvus Green-Ellis | 207 | 871 | 4.21 | 7 |
| Stevan Ridley | 121 | 507 | 4.19 | 6 |
| Javon Ringer | 32 | 134 | 4.19 | 0 |
| Brandon Jacobs | 47 | 196 | 4.17 | 2 |
| Michael Turner | 130 | 536 | 4.12 | 5 |
| Fred Jackson | 85 | 349 | 4.11 | 1 |
| Danny Woodhead | 44 | 178 | 4.05 | 0 |
| Arian Foster | 170 | 685 | 4.03 | 6 |
| Michael Bush | 129 | 518 | 4.02 | 5 |
| Brandon Bolden | 32 | 128 | 4.00 | 1 |
| Mark Ingram | 74 | 295 | 3.99 | 2 |
| Lamar Miller | 33 | 131 | 3.97 | 1 |
| Shonn Greene | 120 | 475 | 3.96 | 5 |
| Bernard Pierce | 52 | 206 | 3.96 | 0 |
| James Starks | 96 | 378 | 3.94 | 1 |
| C.J. Spiller | 45 | 177 | 3.93 | 2 |
| Marshawn Lynch | 160 | 624 | 3.90 | 7 |
| Peyton Hillis | 74 | 282 | 3.81 | 2 |
| Alfred Morris | 74 | 277 | 3.74 | 4 |
| Vick Ballard | 36 | 133 | 3.69 | 0 |
| Tashard Choice | 40 | 147 | 3.68 | 1 |
| Jonathan Dwyer | 55 | 202 | 3.67 | 0 |
| Bernard Scott | 35 | 128 | 3.66 | 1 |
| Robert Turbin | 55 | 201 | 3.65 | 0 |
| Ronnie Brown | 51 | 185 | 3.63 | 0 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 68 | 240 | 3.53 | 0 |
| Cedric Benson | 61 | 215 | 3.52 | 2 |
| Jahvid Best | 31 | 109 | 3.52 | 1 |
| Pierre Thomas | 90 | 316 | 3.51 | 4 |
| Thomas Jones | 75 | 260 | 3.47 | 3 |
| Ray Rice | 191 | 660 | 3.46 | 6 |
| Shane Vereen | 39 | 135 | 3.46 | 2 |
| Maurice Jones-Drew | 93 | 320 | 3.44 | 2 |
| Montee Ball | 44 | 149 | 3.39 | 1 |
| Bilal Powell | 51 | 172 | 3.37 | 3 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | 53 | 174 | 3.28 | 0 |
| Knowshon Moreno | 89 | 291 | 3.27 | 1 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 97 | 316 | 3.26 | 3 |
| Eddie Lacy | 37 | 120 | 3.24 | 0 |
| Toby Gerhart | 51 | 164 | 3.22 | 1 |
| Trent Richardson | 65 | 207 | 3.18 | 2 |
| Montario Hardesty | 31 | 98 | 3.16 | 0 |
| Andre Brown | 36 | 113 | 3.14 | 1 |
| Anthony Dixon | 76 | 237 | 3.12 | 5 |
| Ronnie Hillman | 50 | 155 | 3.10 | 2 |
| Steven Jackson | 112 | 331 | 2.96 | 0 |
| Jacob Hester | 33 | 97 | 2.94 | 1 |
| Ryan Grant | 38 | 111 | 2.92 | 2 |
| Marion Barber | 47 | 136 | 2.89 | 1 |
| Daniel Thomas | 68 | 194 | 2.85 | 1 |
| Rashard Mendenhall | 116 | 323 | 2.78 | 3 |
| John Kuhn | 40 | 108 | 2.70 | 3 |
| Felix Jones | 37 | 91 | 2.46 | 1 |
| Kahlil Bell | 38 | 90 | 2.37 | 0 |
| Le’Veon Bell | 37 | 86 | 2.32 | 0 |
| Alex Green | 31 | 53 | 1.71 | 0 |
