From Week 5 (coinciding with the Adrian Peterson trade) through the end of the 2017 regular season, Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara played better than just about any running back (Todd Gurley excepted), or even skill position player ... and they’re also both running backs who share the same backfield in New Orleans. That is preposterous.
The Saints running backs did something unprecedented in 2017
Two of the most productive backs in the entire league both reside in New Orleans.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Ingram and Kamara were each among the top-5 in yards from scrimmage in that time. They each found the end zone a dozen times, too — tops in the league (along with Gurley).
So in other words, if fantasy output is the best context to convey their excellence, only four skill players had accumulated 190+ fantasy points since Week 5 -- two of which are Kamara and Ingram.
It’s a one-of-a-kind stretch rarer than Halley’s Comet or a Jim Caldwell smile. Of all the many unbelievably dynamic running back duos that have graced backfields since the league’s inception, you won’t find another instance where two of the NFL’s three or four most prolific running backs over a period stretching 13 weeks were on the same damn team.
Shoot, I’m not even sure there’s another multi-week stretch where RB teammates were both in the top 10 in yards from scrimmage, let alone top five. The closest I could find, ironically enough, was also in New Orleans under Sean Payton: a stretch in 2006 when Reggie Bush ranked eighth and Deuce McAllister 11th (to say nothing of touchdowns).
If you think I’m wrong, I’d love for you, dear reader, to point out any other run — of even, say, just three-plus games — where the NFL’s two best, most productive backs shared the same backfield (like the two Saints were for this half-season stretch). Because this fascinates the hell outta me.
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