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Cincinnati Bengals: The Jeremy Hill & Giovani Bernard Duo

By Jimmy Malchow

Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill (32) celebrates with running back Giovani Bernard (25) after scoring a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter in the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill (32) celebrates with running back Giovani Bernard (25) after scoring a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter in the 2014 AFC Wild Card playoff football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /
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The new age run game for the majority of teams these days are by committee.  Unless a team has a complete dominant back, you see two and possibly three guys getting touches.  The Cincinnati Bengals are very familiar with this, with arguably the most dominant duo of Jeremy Hill & Giovani Bernard.  The duo is very lethal with Jeremy being the ground and pound then Giovani being the slasher.  What they did statistically in the 2015 season was phenomenal and what they could do in 2016 could be even better.

In 2015, Jeremy Hill was the starter; rushing for 794 yards and 11 touchdowns with 783 yards from scrimmage.  Giovani added 730 yards and 2 touchdowns with a solid 1202 yards from scrimmage.  Between both of the backs they were just shy of the 2000 yards from scrimmage which contributed to the Bengals success last year in winning.  The Bengals last year did a great job of sustaining a balanced offense and taking advantage of their talented backfield duo.

When the Bengals failed to rush for 100 yards as a team they went 2-4, including the playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Only one game last year did they rush for over 100 yards and lose, which came against the Broncos in overtime, where they rushed for 108 yards.  During the regular season last year, the Bengals rush game directly correlated to how well they took care of the ball.  Eight games the Bengals were able to rush for 110+ yards and had only 3 turnovers during those games.  The other eight games where they rushed for 109 yards and less with a staggering 12 turnovers.

In 2016, Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard should have even better seasons than their 2015 campaigns.  The departure of Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones has left this team with few proven players, which leaves a bigger load for Hill and Bernard to carry.  Effectively establishing the run has to be on the top of the list for new offensive coordinator Ken Zampese to take the pressure off the rest of the offense.  If Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard can get off to a fast start, the Bengals will be a very tough team to stop with the growth of Andy Dalton.

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