For the Green Bay Packers, the hope was that Cedric Benson would quickly add a new dimension to the offence and help revive a running game that often has seemed like an afterthought under Mike McCarthy.
The reality, at least in Week 1: Aaron Rodgers was the Packers' leading rusher in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Benson had nine carries for 18 yards, averaging two yards per carry. Rodgers ran five times for 27 yards. Nobody else, including promising second-year back Alex Green, got a touch in the running game as the Packers (0-1) found themselves playing from behind.
"The way the game goes sometimes dictates whether you're heavy run or pass, but we don't want to be running the ball for 2.0 [yards per carry]," McCarthy said. "So that's not acceptable."
The Packers certainly aren't the first team to struggle to run against the 49ers. With a ferocious front seven, San Francisco was the NFL's stingiest run defence in 2011, giving up only 77.2 yards rushing per game.
But new centre Jeff Saturday said the Packers can't just chalk their running game struggles up to playing a tough opponent.
"I think it's a little of both," Saturday said. "I think you kind of have the perfect storm - you've got a very good defensive front seven and guys [on the offensive line] who aren't oiled up exactly right. So then you get down and kind of become a one-dimensional football team, which played into what they want to do. It just kind of worked against us, the way we started."
