Yesterday, we looked at the top statistical passers against each franchise. Today, we revise a post from a couple of years ago and look at the top rushing producers against each franchise.
Only two players have emerged as a franchise’s top rushing nemesis over the last two years. One of those situations involves the Rams. Only five players have ever rushed for 1,000 yards in their careers against the Rams franchise: Shaun Alexander, Jim Taylor, and Tony Dorsett each finished with between 1,008 and 1,032 rushing yards against the Rams. As of two years ago, Roger Craig’s 1,120 was the most, but since then, Frank Gore has upped his career total to 1,191 rushing yards against St. Louis (and he’s done it in three fewer games than Craig).
With the Saints, it’s even trickier. For a long time, Lawrence McCutcheon was the career rushing leader against New Orleans with 966, but Eric Dickerson (984) passed him before Dickerson retired. Then, Warrick Dunn took over the top spot with 1,135 yards. But in 2013, DeAngelo Williams passed Dunn for most career rushing yards against the Saints. Otherwise, the list below remains pretty similar to how things were last time, although note that this time around, I’m including the playoffs. That’s enough to cause Eddie George to leapfrog Jerome Bettis for the top spot against the Ravens.
Oh, and for the second day in a row, you have to go back to the ’60s to find the man who has been the number one nemesis for the 49ers:
| Opp | Running Back | Rush Yds | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | Emmitt Smith | 2679 | 28 |
| GNB | Walter Payton | 2484 | 24 |
| WAS | Emmitt Smith | 2440 | 24 |
| ARI | Emmitt Smith | 2360 | 26 |
| MIN | Walter Payton | 2279 | 24 |
| TAM | Barry Sanders | 2260 | 20 |
| OAK | LaDainian Tomlinson | 2055 | 19 |
| NYG | Emmitt Smith | 2027 | 25 |
| MIA | Thurman Thomas | 2024 | 24 |
| DET | Walter Payton | 1960 | 25 |
| CLE | Franco Harris | 1928 | 23 |
| NWE | Thurman Thomas | 1925 | 24 |
| CIN | Jerome Bettis | 1846 | 21 |
| CHI | Barry Sanders | 1846 | 19 |
| BUF | Curtis Martin | 1779 | 21 |
| IND | Curtis Martin | 1712 | 16 |
| SEA | Marcus Allen | 1682 | 31 |
| TEN | Franco Harris | 1633 | 24 |
| DEN | Marcus Allen | 1631 | 29 |
| NYJ | O.J. Simpson | 1602 | 17 |
| SDG | Marcus Allen | 1541 | 27 |
| KAN | LaDainian Tomlinson | 1504 | 18 |
| PIT | Jim Brown | 1396 | 12 |
| JAX | Eddie George | 1352 | 17 |
| SFO | Jim Taylor | 1333 | 15 |
| DAL | Tiki Barber | 1304 | 19 |
| STL | Frank Gore | 1278 | 17 |
| NOR | DeAngelo Williams | 1176 | 15 |
| HOU | Chris Johnson | 1116 | 12 |
| ATL | Roger Craig | 1012 | 16 |
| BAL | Eddie George | 973 | 16 |
| CAR | Warrick Dunn | 973 | 14 |
What if we look at rushing touchdowns? That causes just over half of the list to change, even though I broke tiebreakers by using rushing yards. Take a look at the new list:
| Opp | Running Back | Rush TDs | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Emmitt Smith | 25 | 26 |
| WAS | Emmitt Smith | 23 | 24 |
| SDG | Marcus Allen | 23 | 27 |
| OAK | LaDainian Tomlinson | 22 | 19 |
| NYG | Emmitt Smith | 21 | 25 |
| DEN | LaDainian Tomlinson | 21 | 19 |
| GNB | Walter Payton | 19 | 24 |
| CIN | Jerome Bettis | 18 | 21 |
| SEA | Marcus Allen | 18 | 31 |
| CLE | Franco Harris | 17 | 23 |
| PHI | Emmitt Smith | 15 | 28 |
| MIN | Walter Payton | 15 | 24 |
| STL | Frank Gore | 15 | 17 |
| TAM | Barry Sanders | 14 | 20 |
| NWE | O.J. Simpson | 14 | 14 |
| CHI | Adrian Peterson | 14 | 12 |
| TEN | Corey Dillon | 14 | 12 |
| MIA | Curtis Martin | 13 | 20 |
| BUF | Sam Cunningham | 13 | 15 |
| KAN | LaDainian Tomlinson | 13 | 18 |
| SFO | Emmitt Smith | 13 | 15 |
| IND | Paul Hornung | 12 | 10 |
| DAL | John Riggins | 12 | 19 |
| ATL | Ken Willard | 12 | 15 |
| CAR | Michael Turner | 12 | 10 |
| DET | Adrian Peterson | 11 | 12 |
| NYJ | Paul Lowe | 11 | 12 |
| PIT | James Brooks | 11 | 17 |
| HOU | Maurice Jones-Drew | 11 | 13 |
| JAX | Eddie George | 10 | 17 |
| NOR | Gerald Riggs | 9 | 14 |
| BAL | Amos Zereoue | 7 | 6 |
Emmitt Smith, who is the leading rushing against his four division rivals from the ’90s, ups the trophies on the mantle to five when using rushing touchdowns. That’s because he rushed for 13 touchdowns against the 49ers! Shaun Alexander and Tommy Mason each rushed for ten touchdowns against the 49ers, tied for second most.
Marcus Allen and LaDainian Tomlinson dominate the AFC West and Seattle (the division where the Seahawks resided for most of franchise history). Allen was #1 in rushing yards against the Chargers, Broncos, and Seahawks, and #1 in rushing TDs against the Chargers and Seahawks. Tomlinson was #1 against the Chiefs and Raiders in rushing yards, and stole the Broncos from Allen and is #1 against KC/OAK/DEN in rushing touchdowns.
Walter Payton and Barry Sanders dominate the old NFC Norris in rushing yards, but Adrian Peterson is #1 in rushing touchdowns against both the Lions and Bears. It may have taken me 20 guesses to figure out that Paul Hornung is the career leader in rushing touchdowns against the Colts. He has 12, while his old teammate Jim Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Antowain Smith are tied for second place with ten. Although that just means LeGarrette Blount is about one game away from tying that record.
The Jets are a really weird one. The top four is entirely populated from AFL players: Cookie Gilchrist rushed for 9 touchdowns against New York, Abner Haynes had 10, and Jack Kemp (!) and Paul Lowe are tied atop the list with 11 rushing touchdowns. O.J. Simpson and Thurman Thomas rushed for a lot of yards, but not many touchdowns, against the Jets.
Let’s close with another weird one: it may be up to Cam Newton to break the record for rushing touchdowns against the Falcons. Cam is at 5, while Ken Willard, the old 49ers fullback, holds the record with twelve.
Okay, one more, because I still can’t resist doing a triple take every time I see the career leader in rushing touchdowns against the Ravens.