Packers not satisfied with their running game

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Nine rushing attempts for 18 yards. That's all the Packers and new running back Cedric Benson were able to muster in Week 1.

Had it not been for quarterback Aaron Rodgers being forced to scramble five times and gaining 27 yards, Green Bay would have had the fewest attempts and the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL through one game.

Yes, the Packers were trailing the entire game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers and had the NFL's Most Valuable Player slinging passes, but Benson was not satisfied with his debut performance in a green and gold uniform — in the end, a 30-22 loss to the 49ers.

"I feel a lot of (responsibility)," he said Tuesday. "I'm a running back, and I pride myself on running the football. We weren't very productive in the few attempts we did have. (Having) so few attempts is challenging."

During the past three seasons, while Benson was with the Cincinnati Bengals and rushing for 1,000-plus yards every year, he averaged 18.6 attempts per game.

In the final 20 minutes of Sunday's game, Green Bay did not run the ball once. Benson's last carry was a three-yard gain midway through the third quarter. But play-calling head coach Mike McCarthy, as he has stressed in the past, believes it's more about the ability and threat to run the ball than it is actual attempts.

"I don't get caught up in exactly how many times we did this or how many times we did that," McCarthy said. "It's more the intent of the play calling. There's definitely some things you'd like to do more of. We got into a position in the second half where we were very matchup-conscious. It's the reason why we went the way we did. The first half was very disjointed.

"That's the facts. It's no excuse."

In the first half, the offense was almost exclusively no-huddle, with Rodgers frequently in the shotgun. But Benson did get the ball three times in the Packers' first drive, all on first down. His first two runs gained only one yard before he pulled off his longest run of the game, four yards.

"We didn't run the ball very good this past week," McCarthy said. "We want to have some semblance of balance in our offense. We don't want to become one-dimensional, and the defense has an opportunity to play more downhill on us than we do on them. We emphasize the run every week."

According to ProFootballFocus.com, all nine of Benson's carries were to the right side. He had the most success, though it still was minimal, running between center Jeff Saturday and right guard Josh Sitton.

"We didn't have much of a run game," Sitton said. "When we get opportunities to run the ball, we need to be better. The line needs to be better at  blocking, the backs need to be better finding the holes and hitting the right holes."

Sitton, Saturday and right tackle Bryan Bulaga all received negative ratings from ProFootballFocus.com in run blocking. Sitton was the worst among the three. Left tackle Marshall Newhouse was the only offensive lineman to receive a positive run-block rating.

"We're not where we want to be, but we know we have the potential to be a good running football team," Newhouse said. "We got Cedric for a reason, and we've got a lot of guys who work hard and have the tools to do it. We just have to put it together."

Even against an elite defensive line like the 49ers', McCarthy said, Green Bay's two-yards-per-carry average wasn't as simple as the offensive linemen getting beaten at the line of scrimmage. McCarthy breaks down the running game into two complex components, with several of the decisions and actions by the running back combining with the offensive line's overall effectiveness.

"We don't want to be running the ball for 2.0 (yards per carry)," McCarthy said. "That's not acceptable."

Benson was only in for 25 of Green Bay's 72 offensive snaps, with McCarthy opting to put wide receiver Randall Cobb in the backfield as the Packers attempted a comeback late in the game. Though Cobb didn't receive any handoffs, Rodgers did throw him the ball on several short, quick pass routes that at least kept San Francisco from playing too deep.

But if the running game continues to struggle, it will only further allow opposing defenses to guard against the pass on every play and dare the Packers to beat them on the ground.

"It was not a good day running the ball," Rodgers said. "We've got to do a better job. It's about making sure those runs have more yards per attempt. The number of runs is not quite as important as making sure those runs are quality runs. That's going to help us loosen things up a little bit on the back end. When teams are giving us six-man box against our sub personnel, we've got to be able to run the football."

Last season, with Ryan Grant and James Starks splitting carries, Green Bay finished in the bottom seven in the league in every significant rushing category. The Packers were 26th in the in attempts, 27th in yards and 26th in average per carry.

With a short week of practice before hosting the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, Benson believes he is capable of doing better and looking more like the running back that he has been in recent seasons.

"There's no magic word or one thing in particular, it just takes everybody working together," Benson said. "I think there's success to be found."

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