Eddie Lacy has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, but the third-year Packers running back has detected a missing chip in his on-field performance.
"Finishing runs," Lacy said, per the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "A lot of times I'll get into the secondary and I'll stop my feet or as my coach likes to say, 'Hit the brakes. Hit the air brakes.' This year, I don't want to do that.
"I want to get to the secondary and if there's a guy there, whoever it may be, instead of me hitting the air brakes, I want to push the gas and make it harder on him and maybe he'll miss a tackle and I'll break a long one, or maybe he makes the tackle," Lacy said. "But that's something he's going to have to do for that whole game."
Lacy's determination is notable, but shedding defenders was hardly a liability last season for the 230-pound fireball. He finished sixth in the NFL with 49 missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus. Lacy's 690 yards after contact, meanwhile, was topped only by DeMarco Murray, Marshawn Lynch, Arian Foster and Le'Veon Bell.
The Packers haven't seen a running back post three straight 1,000-yard campaigns since Ahman Green ripped off five such seasons from 2000 to 2004. Lacy is a threat to match and top Green's heroics because of the offense he plays in.
Not unlike the string of Broncos backs playing behind Peyton Manning, Packers runners are set up to succeed in Green Bay. The presence of all-world quarterback Aaron Rodgers and pass-catchers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb force secondaries to prepare for chaos through the air. Lining up eight in the box to slow Lacy is not a snap-by-snap option.
If he can stay healthy, Lacy is in for his finest season to date.
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