NFL Predictions Week 1: Underrated Running Backs Who Will Carry Their Team

The NFL is becoming less of a feature-back league and more of a pass-first, hurry-up offense that heavily favors quarterbacks and wide receivers.

But we've already seen Marshawn Lynch carry the Seattle Seahawk's offense on Thursday night, piling up 110 yards and two touchdowns. He's shown us early in the young 2014 season that he's still one of the league's elite interior rushers.

At 28 years old, the talk of Lynch's demise has been fairly common coming into this year's season, especially after having won a Super Bowl and averaging just above 300 carries over the past three seasons.

Yet he's proven that talk to be nonsense, at least for the time being.

So as the first Sunday of the new season fast approaches, who are some other underrated running backs who could carry their team to victory in Lynchian-fashion?

Frank Gore vs. Dallas Cowboys

Michael Crabtree's status for Sunday's matchup against the Dallas Cowboys is uncertain, and it'll provide even more incentive for the San Francisco 49ers to stick to their identity and rely heavily on their running game.

Even if Crabtree plays, the 31-year-old Gore is likely to be the centerpiece of head coach Jim Harbaugh's offensive game plan.

You can expect a small dose of rookie RB Carlos Hyde, but Gore is set to get most of the work for the foreseeable future and is primed to have a great game against an abysmal Dallas defense that ranked 27th against the run in 2013.

Despite 250-plus carries in each of the last three seasons, Gore has continued to defy what seems to be a common offseason consensus that he's due to slow down and taper off into a backup role.

The presence of Hyde might suggest that such a demise is on the horizon, but Gore is still here to play ball.

Knowshon Moreno vs. New England Patriots

It has been 12 games since Lamar Miller scored a touchdown, so we could reasonably assume that his No. 1 spot on the Miami Dolphins depth chart is a mere formality.

If we consider the Dolphins are playing the New England Patriots, who are likely to have the services of Rob Gronkowski, it's not a stretch to say that Miami could be playing from behind. If that happens, Moreno is a guy who can pass-block and catch passes with the best of them.

J Pat Carter/Associated Press

In that situation, it doesn't matter that last year he was playing in Denver's offense and the line of scrimmage was practically free for the taking. Moreno is good, and he's going to be one of the Dolphins' most valuable weapons against the Patriots in a number of scenarios.

Expect the Dolphins to work him into both the running and the passing game and to see a revised depth chart in the weeks to come.

C. J. Spiller vs. Chicago Bears

With ankle issues having faded over the horizon in the Buffalo Bills' rear-view mirror, a healthy C.J. Spiller gets to open the season against the Chicago Bears, who allowed an appalling 161 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry in 2013.

Spiller will take advantage of the opportunity and help keep the Bills competitive while they have little to show in terms of a passing attack.

Though he might still lose some carries to the veteran Fred Jackson, who accounted for 206 of the team's rushing attempts in 2013, consider that the Bills led the NFL last year in carries with 546. They are likely to continue that trend as long as EJ Manuel is their QB, or until he develops into a more threatening pocket passer.

Since Spiller is the younger of the two backs, and playing in a contract year, he should top his 202 attempts from last season and become the solidified No. 1 RB in Buffalo, since there will be plenty of work to go around in the backfield.

That's a recipe for success against Chicago.

Bobby Kittleberger writes about fantasy football for The FF White Papers . You can get in touch with him via Twitter .