For decades, NFL and college teams have over-complicated the running game. Running the ball isn’t so much about physically overpowering an opponent, instead, it is a math problem. If an offense has seven blockers in the formation and the defense is showing just six defenders in the box, the offense should theoretically be at an advantage and vice versa. Teams should only run the ball when it is advantageous for them.
But for some reason, teams at every level haven’t used this philosophy despite the overwhelming amount of data we have at our disposal. Take the NFL in 2017 for example.