It's October. Let's Talk Pumpkins!

 By Eric Goska

Ahman Green toted the pumpkin many times in his career.
(photo courtesy of Chip Manthey)

Hey you! Yes, you!

I need you to go to the grocery store for me. Take this $20, and if you can get 100 or more pumpkins with the money I’ve given you, you get a gold bar.

Let’s suppose you agree, and we do this for years. Sometimes you get 100 pumpkins for $20. Often, you do not.

Time goes by and you retire. As we part ways, you have 24 gold bars. Not bad.

Of course, I still need to eat and so I find someone else to do my shopping. I offer him the same cash-for-pumpkins deal.

Well, this new guy has been doing nice work, but he’s not ready to retire. As of this writing, he has 11 gold bars (12 actually).

Simple question: Who earned more gold bars? You or the guy who came after you?

The Green Bay Packers, in their weekly Dope Sheet, would have you believe the 11-star shopper has more. That’s because when you worked for me, I occasionally gave you more money and sent you back to buy additional groceries.

(I don’t like to do that with the new guy. I don’t like to overwork him.)

Ahman Green (2000-2006, 2009) played eight seasons for the Packers. On 24 occasions, he hit or exceeded 100 yards rushing on 20 or fewer carries.

Green was a workhorse. Over five seasons (2000 to 2004), his 1,467 rushing attempts ranked third behind Curtis Martin (1,604) and Eddie George (1,505). When quarterback Brett Favre handed off, chances were (66 percent) the ball was going to No. 30.

Defenses knew that. Didn’t matter. Green hit or exceeded 100 on 20 or fewer carries 24 times. No other back in Packers history can say that.

Now, Green didn’t always stop at 20 carries. Sometimes he motored on, piling up 25 or more attempts in a single game. So when the clock hit zero, his stat line might look like 24-153 or 27-155 or even 29-192.

But he got his initial 100 in 20. Just like Aaron Jones.

Jones is in his sixth season for Green Bay. He is no slouch. As I documented recently, he became only the sixth running back in team annals to amass 6,000 yards from scrimmage.

But Jones rarely gets the call like Green did. He’s carried 20 or more times just four times in the regular season. And that’s fine. This is no knock on Jones.

But why penalize Green? Why rule him out because he did more shopping?

Check out this from the Packers’ Dope Sheet.

Jones rushed for 110 yards on 16 carries (6.9 avg.) in Week 4, his 11th career 100-yard rushing game on 20 or fewer attempts. That is the most by a Packer (since 1950) as he moved past FB Jim Taylor (10 games).

Whoa. Green is totally ignored. Taylor is cast aside. And therein lies the problem.

I sent an email to the Packers prior to the Giants game. In it, I said:

The statistic as presented really owes more to the fact that the coaching staff is reluctant to use Jones as much as Green and Taylor were utilized in the past. Not sure what's to celebrate in that?

Jones gets 100 and his day ends. Green and Taylor get there too, but they soldier on.

How does repeatedly coming up short of 21 carries merit a pat on the back? That’s really what’s being recognized here, the ability to close up shop at a time when the numbers appear more eye-catching.

I would never dream of foisting this bogus statistic upon my readers. In my opinion, it is dishonest and fails to tell the entire story.

But I’m sure this Dope Sheet note, like Green and Taylor, will carry on. I mean, why shut it down when forging ahead is what made the whole thing possible in the first place.

Smart Shoppers
Packers with more than five regular-season games in which they reached 100 yards rushing in 20 or fewer carries.

No.         Player, Years
24           Ahman Green, 2000-2006, 2009
22           Jim Taylor, 1958-1966
12           Aaron Jones, 2017-2022
9             Ryan Grant, 2007-2012
8             Tony Canadeo, 1941-1944, 1946-1952
7             John Brockington, 1971-77
7             Eddie Lacy, 2013-2016