Giants game
8 of our runs came when were within 14 points in the 1st quarter.
1 of our runs came when we were up 14 or more points in the 1st quarter
8 of our runs came when we were within 14 points in the 2nd quarter.
2 of our runs came when we were within 14 points in the 3rd quarter.
3 of our runs came when we were up 14 points or more in the 3rd quarter.
11 of our runs came when we were up 14 points or more in the 4th quarter.
Analysis: Excluding QB runs, we had 33 carries in the game. Don't know where you got the 45 carries in the OP. Rodgers carried the ball twice.
15 carries with a safe lead. 18 when the game was close.
We had a safe lead for 25 minutes, and the game was close (within 2 TDs) for 35 minutes.
Conclusion: While we had a lot of garbage carries, it's safe to say that running early helped us out later in the game. This game supports your theory. I'll analyze more of our games later to see if they contain similar results.