Buffalo Bills take out help wanted ad for running backs


Howie Long, Dummies:
Job description - In an American football game, a running back has a responsibility, or assignment, on every play. Running backs may have the toughest job on the football field because they have to not only know every play like a quarterback, but also make physical contact on virtually every down.

He must know every hole number in the playbook. A typical NFL playbook may contain between 50 and 100 running plays. The holes, which are numbered, are the only things that tell the running back where he’s supposed to run with the ball. The play will either specify the hole number or be designed for a specific hole.

Sunday should have been a joyous occasion for the Buffalo Bills with their exciting win over the Minnesota Vikings, 17-16. A two yard pass from QB Kyle Orton to WR Sammy Watkins and K Dan Carpenter's PAT with one second remaining completed the comeback. The win leaves the Bills only one game out of first place in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots. However, the win was very costly to the offense.

Mike Rodak, ESPN:
The Buffalo Bills lost running backs Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller during Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings as both were carted off in the first half of the Bills' 17-16 win and didn't return.

Jackson suffered a groin injury, while a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Spiller broke his collarbone. 
Bills coach Doug Marrone said after the game that Spiller will be out "for an undetermined time." The running back is scheduled to have surgery on the collarbone on Monday, a league source told ESPN's Adam Caplan.

It seemed like a easy shoestring tackle by Minnesota S Robert Blanton on Bills RB C.J. Spiller at the end of his 53 yard run. The ground can't cause a fumble, but it can break the left collarbone of C.J., ending his season on injury reserve. After Spiller followed Fred Jackson to the locker room, the Bills had only one other healthy running back, Anthony Dixon.

The NFL's oldest running back, 33 year old Fred Jackson, was injured on a relatively simple one yard dive play early in the second quarter. Fred appeared to go to the ground before contact, suffering a groin injury. He limped to the bench before leaving the field on a cart, and will be out of action for four weeks.

Jackson is one of the six captains on the Bills. Fred was given a tryout by the Bills in 2006 by General Manager, Marv Levy. Each had attended a small school in Iowa, Coe College. He has played his entire NFL career in Buffalo, and has always been a positive influence on other players. The next month will be spent rehabbing, and helping the running backs that the Bills can find through trades or waivers.



The Bills travel to MetLife Stadium on Sunday to meet the New York Jets. The Jets have plenty of good running backs. We shall see if the Bills can prove the theory that the running back position is devalued, and that a good passing attack is more important. It will give QB Kyle Orton a chance to cut into Peyton Manning's mark. He only trails by 422 TD passes.

Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

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