ESPN.com - Take it on the run

ESPN.com: NFL

Wednesday, October 25, 2000
Take it on the run

By Russell S. Baxter
Special to ESPN.com

Last week, Bengals running back Corey Dillon set a new NFL single-game record with 278 yards rushing in Cincinnati's upset victory over the Broncos.

Dillon's amazing afternoon marked the fifth time this season that a running back had reached the 200-yard mark. Indianapolis' Edgerrin James (219) and St. Louis' Marshall Faulk (208) each rushed for at least 200 yards in Week 7, and Philadelphia's Duce Staley and San Francisco's Charlie Garner each ran for 201 yards against the Cowboys at Texas Stadium earlier this season.

The NFL record for most 200-yard rushing games by individuals in a single season was set in 1997, when there were seven such performances. And this year's early output is somewhat stunning when you consider there were no such outings last season and only two in 1998.

200-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES (1996-2000)
Year	Games	200's
2000	114	5
1999	248	0
1998	240	2
1997	240	7
1996	240	1

Meanwhile, it's not just the big games by runners that are on the increase. There were 11 100-yard rushing performances this past week and 10 such outings the week before that. That's the biggest two-weekend total since December of 1998 (Weeks 15 and 16), when there were also 21 100-yard games over that span. Of course, the NFL set records in 1998 for 100-yard rushing performances (144), as well as 1,000-yard runners (20).

With a little less than half of the season gone, the league is ahead of last year's pace of runners reaching the century mark, but not quite on par with the record-setting season of two years ago.

100-YARD RUSHING PERFORMANCES (After 8 weeks, 1996-2000)
Year	Games	100's
2000	114	52
1999	114	44
1998	106	67
1997	107	59
1996	107	46

It's also worth noting that 16 players have already rushed for at least 500 yards this season, most of those runners accomplishing that feat in seven games.

Come December, we may be taking a closer look at another record season of 1,000-yard runners.

Russell S. Baxter is the chief NFL researcher for ESPN and a senior reporter for ESPN the Magazine.