Dolphins vs. Packers is the highest stakes game of Thanksgiving

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All of a sudden, this game feels so much more important. After their season potentially being on the brink, the Dolphins have rattled off three straight wins and are right back in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race. They go up to Green Bay to face a Packers team that I came into the season really high on, and they’ve given me no reason to feel worse about them. The biggest reason is because they’ve found something in their run game and RB Josh Jacobs. Jacobs came over as a free agent from the Las Vegas Raiders, and he’s been everything that they’ve been looking for. He’s 3rd in the NFL in rushing yards, 3rd in total Yards after Contact and has run for seven touchdowns. But it’s when we get to games in November and December where I really think we feel Jacobs’ impact on the Packers.

Josh Jacobs is a great back to watch because he initiates so much contact. He doesn’t just want to hit— he invites you to try and hit him. Among all RBs with at least 100 carries this season, Jacobs is fourth in Yards After Contact per attempt and third in broken tackles forced. His broken tackle and missed tackle rate of 19.8% is eighth in the same metric. He’s the human snowplow, and his game against the San Francisco 49ers was the perfect example of that.

Jacobs has such good contact balance and runs low to the ground, forcing his center of gravity lower. He’s a load to try and get to the ground, and in these parts of the season the Packers could use his ability to break tackles. This is a diabolical run concept by Matt LaFleur. Bring TE Tucker Kraft in blast return motion, and basically run split zone with the spinner as eye candy. The hole opens up for Jacobs, and he hits a clean spin move to start the game.

This run doesn’t go for much, but look at what Jacobs does to keep this ball ahead of the sticks. His hard running is what separates good teams from great ones, good backs from great ones and keeps that offense afloat.

Again, what I love about Jacobs so much is that he just runs ANGRY. Like there’s no other way to describe it, man. He just … Read More