Brandon Jackson rushed for 115 yards in an overtime loss against the Redskins on October 10, 2010. How long ago was that? Washington’s quarterback that day was Donovan McNabb. Two months later, Jackson rushed for 99 yards in a loss in Foxboro, and Ryan Grant had 92 rushing yards in a September victory in Chicago in 2011, but no Packer has hit the century mark in a regular season game since October 10th, 2010. (It’s worth noting that James Starks rushed for 123 yards in a playoff victory against the Eagles in the 2010 playoffs, but NFL game streaks routinely exclude postseason performances.)
The table below lists all teams since 1960 to go at least 32 games without a 100-yard rusher. Here’s how the second row of the table reads: The Washington Redskins went 72 games without a 100-yard rusher. The team’s last 100-yard rusher came in a game on December 17, 1961, and the streak finally ended on September 24, 1967. The player to break the streak was Bobby Mitchell, and you can see the boxscore from that game in the final column.
Team | Streak | Last Game | Streak Ended | Player | Boxscore |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
was | 72 | 12/17/1961 | 10/01/1967 | Bobby Mitchell | Boxscore |
cle | 69 | 11/27/1988 | 09/19/1993 | Tommy Vardell | Boxscore |
cin | 67 | 12/20/1992 | 09/21/1997 | Ki-Jana Carter | Boxscore |
kan | 54 | 12/20/1981 | 12/08/1985 | Mike Pruitt | Boxscore |
atl | 50 | 10/30/1966 | 10/04/1970 | Cannonball Butler | Boxscore |
nyg | 48 | 11/17/1963 | 10/01/1967 | Ernie Koy | Boxscore |
den | 45 | Expansion | 10/06/1963 | Donnie Stone | Boxscore |
gnb | 43 | 10/10/2010 | |||
cin | 43 | 10/21/1973 | 10/31/1976 | Boobie Clark | Boxscore |
det | 43 | 10/12/1986 | 09/24/1989 | Barry Sanders | Boxscore |
kan | 43 | 09/28/1992 | 12/24/1994 | Marcus Allen | Boxscore |
nor | 43 | 11/28/1971 | 12/08/1974 | Alvin Maxson | Boxscore |
phi | 43 | 12/21/1969 | 09/23/1973 | Tom Sullivan | Boxscore |
nyg | 42 | 10/01/1967 | 10/11/1970 | Ron A. Johnson | Boxscore |
gnb | 40 | 12/17/1989 | 11/01/1992 | Vince Workman | Boxscore |
chi | 38 | 12/16/1962 | 11/28/1965 | Gale Sayers | Boxscore |
den | 38 | 11/14/1965 | 10/27/1968 | Floyd Little | Boxscore |
sdg | 38 | 12/15/1975 | 11/05/1978 | Lydell Mitchell | Boxscore |
buf | 37 | 10/16/1966 | 09/28/1969 | O.J. Simpson | Boxscore |
crd | 37 | 10/24/2004 | 12/03/2006 | Edgerrin James | Boxscore |
atl | 36 | 10/16/1988 | 12/02/1990 | Mike Rozier | Boxscore |
den | 36 | 10/26/1980 | 09/25/1983 | Sammy Winder | Boxscore |
mia | 36 | 10/14/1984 | 11/24/1986 | Lorenzo Hampton | Boxscore |
ram | 36 | 10/02/1994 | 11/10/1996 | Harold Green | Boxscore |
cle | 34 | 12/17/1995 | 09/23/2001 | James Jackson | Boxscore |
phi | 34 | 12/27/1987 | 09/23/1990 | Anthony Toney | Boxscore |
tam | 34 | Expansion | 10/15/1978 | Jimmy DuBose | Boxscore |
phi | 33 | 11/25/1973 | 09/27/1976 | Mike Hogan | Boxscore |
det | 32 | 12/15/1973 | 10/10/1976 | Horace King | Boxscore |
phi | 32 | 12/19/1982 | 12/09/1984 | Wilbert Montgomery | Boxscore |
sfo | 32 | 11/28/1994 | 12/02/1996 | Terry Kirby | Boxscore |
Yes, Barry Sanders went to a team that hadn’t had a 100-yard rusher in 41 straight games. That changed pretty quickly. And if you think this post was a thinly veiled reason to use Cannonball Butler in a post, you’d be right. Junior Coffey became the first player to rush for 100 yards for the expansion Falcons in 1966, but no other Atlanta runner hit the century mark for four more years.