Photos of RB Doug Martin's 235 yard performance against the Eagles on November 22nd.
The Buccaneers' rushing attack didn't just have a good day; rather, it returned the best ground results in a single game in franchise history. Tampa Bay's 283 rushing yards against Philly set a new team record, surpassing the 278 it had in the 2012 Oakland game referenced several times above. Below are the top five single-game rushing outputs in franchise annals; note that, unlike the best total yardage games, the Bucs' top rushing games are very much correlated with victory:
|
Yards |
Opponent |
Date |
Outcome |
|
1. 283 |
at Philadelphia |
11/22/15 |
W, 45-17 |
|
at Oakland |
11/04/12 |
W, 42-32 |
|
vs. Dallas |
12/3/00 |
W, 27-7 |
|
vs. Minnesota |
11/1/98 |
W, 27-24 |
|
vs. N.Y. Giants |
11/2/80 |
W, 30-13 |
|
at Green Bay |
9/16/79 |
W, 21-10 |
|
7t. 229 |
vs. Detroit |
9/1/79 |
W, 31-16 |
|
7t. 229 |
at Detroit |
9/21/86 |
W, 24-20 |
|
vs. Green Bay |
10/21/79 |
W, 21-3 |
|
at Detroit |
11/13/88 |
W, 23-20 |
On the list of the best rushing games in Buccaneer history, one has to go down to the 14th spot to find a contest Tampa Bay lost. On Oct. 5, 1997, the Bucs ran for 217 yards against Green Bay but fell 21-16.
The Buccaneers now own the best single-game rushing total of any NFL team in 2015, surpassing the 266 that Buffalo grinded out against Miami on Nov. 8. The Bucs' total was the highest by an NFL team since San Francisco rushed for 355 yards against San Diego on Dec. 20, 2014.
Tampa Bay got its 283 yards on 42 carries, averaging 6.74 yards per tote. That is not a new Buccaneer record, nor is it particularly close. The Bucs averaged 9.00 yards per carry against Detroit on Dec. 23, 1995, though that was only on 16 carries. The Bucs' rushing average on Sunday was the eighth-best in a game in team history; however, it did mark the first time the team had ever averaged more than six yards per carry in a single game on 40 carries or more. The Bucs got 246 yards on 61 carries against San Diego on Dec. 13, 1981, but that was exactly six yards a carry.
Obviously, Doug Martin was responsible for most of those yards, thanks in part to breakaway runs of 84, 58 and 27 yards. His 84-yarder down to the Eagles' one-yard line in the second quarter set up Winston's third touchdown pass of the game and set a new franchise record for longest run. The previous long was an 80-yard touchdown scamper by Bobby Rainey against Buffalo on Dec. 8, 2013.
Martin now owns three of the 11 longest runs in team history, four of the 17 longest and five of the 24 longest. In 43 career games, Martin has recorded 10 runs of 40 more yards, the most in team history. Warrick Dunn is second on the list with nine. Martin's efforts on Sunday marked just the third time in Buccaneer annals that a player has recorded two carries of 50 or more yards in the same game, and he's now on that list twice. Those three games:
- Doug Martin, 84 and 58 yards, at Philadelphia, 11/22/15
- Doug Martin, 70t and 67t, at Oakland, 11/4/15
- Thomas Jones, 61 and 51, vs. Green Bay, 11/16/03
Martin finished the game with 235 yards on 27 carries, the most by any running back in a single game this season. Here are the top five individual rushing efforts this season:
|
Player |
Team |
Opp., Date |
No. |
Yds. |
Avg. |
|
TB |
at PHI, 11/22 |
27 |
253 |
8.70 |
|
SEA |
vs. SF, 11/22 |
30 |
209 |
6.97 |
|
MIN |
at OAK, 11/15 |
26 |
203 |
7.81 |
|
MIA |
vs. HOU, 10/25 |
14 |
175 |
12.50 |
|
PIT |
vs. OAK, 11/8 |
27 |
170 |
6.30 |
Martin did not set a new team record for rushing yards in a single game, but only because he fell a bit short of his own 251-yard outing at Oakland in 2012. His total on Sunday in Philadelphia was the best by any NFL back since that game. They are the top two single-game totals in the NFL since Seattle's Shaun Alexander rushed for 266 yards against the Raiders on Nov. 11, 2011.
Martin's 231 yards on Sunday marked the 20th-highest single-game total in NFL history; his 251 yards at Oakland currently rank tied for 10th on that list. Here are the top 20 individual rushing performances in league history:
|
Player |
Tm |
Opp |
Date |
Att |
Yds |
Avg |
TD |
|
MIN |
SD |
11/4/2007 |
30 |
296 |
9.87 |
3 |
|
BAL |
CLE |
9/14/2003 |
30 |
295 |
9.83 |
2 |
|
CLE |
KC |
12/20/2009 |
34 |
286 |
8.41 |
3 |
|
CIN |
DEN |
10/22/2000 |
22 |
278 |
12.64 |
2 |
|
CHI |
MIN |
11/20/1977 |
40 |
275 |
6.88 |
1 |
|
BUF |
DET |
11/25/1976 |
29 |
273 |
9.41 |
2 |
|
SEA |
OAK |
11/11/2011 |
35 |
266 |
7.6 |
3 |
|
KC |
DEN |
1/3/2010 |
25 |
259 |
10.36 |
2 |
|
DAL |
STL |
10/23/2011 |
25 |
253 |
10.12 |
1 |
|
10t. Mike Anderson |
DEN |
NO |
12/3/2000 |
37 |
251 |
6.78 |
4 |
|
10t. Doug Martin |
TB |
OAK |
11/4/2012 |
25 |
251 |
10.04 |
4 |
|
BUF |
NE |
9/16/1973 |
29 |
250 |
8.62 |
2 |
|
LAN |
NO |
12/5/1971 |
26 |
247 |
9.5 |
1 |
|
CIN |
TEN |
12/4/1997 |
39 |
246 |
6.31 |
4 |
|
15t. Cookie Gilchrist |
BUF |
NYJ |
12/8/1963 |
36 |
243 |
6.75 |
5 |
|
15t. LaDainian Tomlinson |
SD |
OAK |
12/28/2003 |
31 |
243 |
7.84 |
2 |
|
17t. Jim Brown |
CLE |
PHI |
11/19/1961 |
34 |
237 |
6.97 |
4 |
|
17t. Barry Sanders |
DET |
TB |
11/13/1994 |
26 |
237 |
9.12 |
0 |
|
17t. Emmitt Smith |
DAL |
PHI |
10/31/1993 |
30 |
237 |
7.9 |
1 |
|
20. Doug Martin |
TB |
PHI |
11/22/2015 |
27 |
235 |
8.7 |
0 |
Look for repeated names on that list and you'll only find three. Doug Martin, O.J. Simpson and Corey Dillon are the only players in NFL history with two games of 235 or more rushing yards.
Though he more than doubled the necessary qualifications, Martin did also record his 11th 100-yard rushing game. That moved him into a tie for second place in team history in that category.
Most Career 100-Yard Rushing Games, Regular Season, Buccaneers:
|
Player, Seasons |
100-Yd. Games |
|
14 |
|
2t. RB Doug Martin, 2012-15 |
11 |
|
2t. RB Warrick Dunn, 1997-2001, 2008 |
11 |
|
9 |
|
8 |
|
6t. FB Mike Alstott, 1996-2007 |
7 |
|
6t. RB Ricky Bell, 1977-81 |
7 |
|
6t. RB LeGarrette Blount, 2010-12 |
7 |
|
6t. RB Reggie Cobb, 1990-93 |
7 |
|
6t. RB Michael Pittman, 2002-07 |
7 |
Martin's 8.70 yards per carry in Philadelphia was the seventh-best average in a single game in Buccaneer history (minimum of 10 carries in a game). Martin is the first player in team history to average 7.5 or more yards per carry in a game in which he ran the ball more than 25 times.
Martin had 177 of those rushing yards in the first half. That marked the highest rushing-yardage before halftime by an NFL player since Baltimore's Jamal Lewis had 180 against Cleveland on Sept. 14, 2003. As a team, the Bucs rushed for 216 yards before the break, the best first-half ground game for any NFL team since Jacksonville had 251 in the first half against Indianapolis on Dec. 10, 2006.
