Throwback Thursday: Best Backfields

The NFL is a passing league now. It's been one for a while and it's not likely to change. There once was a time when the preferred manner to move the football was on the ground. The pass was a gimmick for most of football's history. Teams won with the run. And teams often had at least a couple of players that could really run. Here is a look at some of the best backfields through the history of the NFL. T

1934 Chicago Bears
Bronko Nagurski
Beattie Feathers
Gene Ronzani
You could basically put Nagurski in any backfield and it would be great. In 1934, Feathers became the first back to rush for more than 1,000 yards. He never came close to duplicating that production but he was terrific in 1934.

1935 Detroit Lions
Dutch Clark
Ace Gutowsky
Glenn Presnell
Ernie Caddell
This backfield was talented and versatile. As a tailback in those early days Clark was more like today's quarterback than today's tailback. If Presnell had played more of his professional football days in the NFL he'd probably be enshrined in Canton.

1947 Chicago Cardinals
Charley Trippi
Pat Harder
Marshall Goldberg
The Cardinals have had a fairly bleak history. The team's glory years were the years when these runners carried the ball. With quarterback Paul Christman this Cardinals backfield was dubbed the "Dream Backfield." The Cardinals won the NFL title in 1947.

1948 Cleveland Browns
Marion Motley
Dub Jones
Bob Cowan
As with the Bears and Nagurski you could put Motley in any backfield and it would be great. Motley really should be in any argument about the greatest football player in league history but he never is. Maybe it's because his best years were in the AAFC. Jones was a terrific, versatile football player.

1954 San Francisco 49ers
Joe Perry
Hugh McElhenny
John Henry Johnson
This backfield is ridiculous. All three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You can include quarterback Y.A. Tittle too.  This was the "Million Dollar Backfield." Maybe because "Dream Backfield" was already taken.

1958 Cleveland Browns
Jim Brown
Bobby Mitchell
Ray Renfro
Brown and Mitchell are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Not much needs to be said about Jim Brown. He's the best. Mitchell made it to Canton more for his pass-catching days with the Washington Redskins. He was a game-breaking, change of pace back in his time with Cleveland. Renfro was a versatile playmaker. If it wasn't for his backfield mates he'd probably be considered a superstar.

1958 Baltimore Colts
Lenny Moore
Alan Ameche
L.G. Dupre
Moore was a fantastic football player. He would have been a Hall of Fame football player at running back or receiver. He did a bit of both. Ameche is best known for his overtime touchdown in the 1958 NFL Championship game. He was one of the best fullbacks in an era when Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, and Rick Casares played the position. Injuries ended his career a little early. Dupre was going to be the Colts breakaway threat before Moore arrived.

1962 Green Bay Packers
Jim Taylor
Paul Hornung
Elijah Pitts
A couple of Hall of Fame players in Taylor and Hornung. Taylor was a bull. Hornung could do a little bit of everything. With the manner in which Taylor ran it's a surprise that Hornung was a little bigger. Both were effective blockers. Pitts was a capable backup stuck behind a couple of Hall of Fame football players. He got his chance on the Packers Super Bowl teams later in the decade.

1963 San Diego Chargers
Paul Lowe
Keith Lincoln
Lowe and Lincoln were a dynamite duo. Sid Gillman's passing offense gets so much deserved attention but it was these two backs that made those great Chargers offenses of the early 1960s go. Lincoln's performance in the 1963 AFL Championship game was one of the best in professional football history. 206 yards rushing on only 13 carries. 123 yards on 7 receptions. 329 total yards from scrimmage and 2 TDs. Chargers destroyed the Boston Patriots 51-10.

1972 Miami Dolphins
Larry Csonka
Mercury Morris
Jim Kiick
This was the first backfield to include two 1,000-yard rushers. Csonka had 1,117. Morris had exactly 1,000. Kiick kicked in another 521. Each was a very different runner. And the Dolphins went undefeated and won their first Super Bowl.

1976 Pittsburgh Steelers
Franco Harris
Rocky Bleier
It might have been better to pick a year that the Steelers won one of their Super Bowls but this was the year that Harris and Bleier joined Csonka and Morris as 1,000-yard duos. Harris is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bleier is one of those high-effort, high-energy, do-everything players that every great football team seems to need on the roster.

1988-89 Los Angeles Raiders
Bo Jackson
Marcus Allen
Oh, what might have been with Bo Jackson. Allen was at the tail-end of his Hall of Fame career. He still gained 831 yards in 1988 but he was starting to fade. Jackson was a phenom that was forced to leave the game way too soon.

1992 Buffalo Bills 
Thurman Thomas
Kenneth Davis
Thomas was one of the most versatile running backs ever. Davis could have been a star on any other team. Thomas had 370 touches. There weren't many left for Davis but he still gained over 600 yards rushing.

2006 San Diego Chargers
LaDanian Tomlinson
Lorenzo Neal
Michael Turner
Tomlinson had one of the best seasons ever for a runner. 1,815 yards rushing, 508 yards receiving, 31 total TDs. Neal was one of the best fullbacks of his era. Turner added 502 yards on only 80 carries in 2006. He proved later when he moved to Atlanta that he could carry a team as a runner.

2007 Minnesota Vikings 
Adrian Peterson
Chester Taylor
I had to close with a Vikings backfield! Peterson had better years but his rookie season was the only season in which he did share the backfield. Somewhat. Peterson gained 1,341 yards rushing. Taylor added 844. Taylor had joined the team as a free agent in 2006 to be the top back in Minnesota. After a very good first season with the Vikings he saw the team select Peterson in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. This terrific combo was the heart of the offense through the 2009 season.

There's a look at 15 of the top backfields in NFL history.