Let me preface my blog by saying that my opinion on running backs and the perspective i view them through is vastly different than how most others do. While most marvel at the impressive accomplishments of backs like Steven Jackson, Ladanian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson, and rightfully so, I marvel at the work done in the trenches by those tailback's offensive linemen, who I think decide the outcome o####ame more than any other player beside the one that takes the snaps. While Adrian Peterson is a phenominal player and his backup Chester Taylor is anything but, both run behind a line stacked with five unfathomingly large behemoths. Ladanian Tomlinson is an undisputably great tailback, but his linemen, while not as good as those in Minnesota, are nonetheless excellent. Granted, Steven Jackson has been running wild, when healthy,  behind a makeshift offensive line, he has a passing game that can prevents opponents from stacking the box. It sounds like i am trying my best to take away credit from running backs through any means possible, but i am merely trying to build up the point that rushing the football is, in my opinion, more dependant on other, external variables than any other task in football.

Also,. with all the attention Lewis and the Browns have drawn in recent weeks, the fact that Lewis's season has been very hit or miss(dare I say Grossmanesque), has been overlooked. Through Week 11, Lewis, who missed two games in that span, ran for over 100 yards just once and averaged over 4 YPC just twice. Also, four of his 9 touchdowns came in week 9 against St.Louis, when he ran for 37 yards on twenty carries, hardly a strong performance.  When you include his last four games his performance overall has been solid, but still not as good as one would think judging from the attention Lewis has generated.

With that established, the answer is yes and no. I am not surprised at what Lewis has done on his own. (Even back in Baltimore, when Jonathan Ogden was out with injury, Lewis's performance suffered and it was clear that Lewis was largely dependant on the performance of his enormous blocker. The same can be said for Edgerrin james, who suffered a massive letdown when he left Indianapolis and the fantasy that is playing alongside Peyton Manning.) Rather, what does surprise me is how quick the Browns' first draft pick, Joe Thomas, has risen to the upper echelon of offensive linemen, and how the passing game went from non-existent to often unstopable. Braylon Edwards is a top ten reciever, Kellen Winslow a top 5 tight end and Derek Anderson a very competent, if not above average quarterback. What I am trying to say is that while Lewis has put up some nice numbers this year, those numbers have less to do with him and more to do with the offense he plays on and the beasts, particularly Thomas, that he runs behind. Throw in the fact that his four triple digit yardage games came against Cincinatti, Houston, New York(AFC) and Buffalo, and his season is even less impressive.

To sum it up, i would say that I am surprised with how well the Browns have run the ball, not how well Lewis has run the ball. Running the ball is the ultimate team effort, and if one player misses his assignment, the run play can easily get blown up. So when analysts look at the Browns and attribute their success on the ground  to Jamal Lewis, i get upset. It's not Jamal that is getting it done, rather the most unerappreciated unit in the game, the fat, one ton brotherhood that its the Offensive Line.