To those saying that the Patriots cannot run the ball (1 Viewer)

[Ghost Rider]

The Patriots are 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 10th in yards per carry. So, please, let's stop with all of this "the Patriots cannot run the ball" nonsense.

 

[Giants4Life]

The Patriots are 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 10th in yards per carry. So, please, let's stop with all of this "the Patriots cannot run the ball" nonsense.

I agree. Who cares whether they run the ball or not. They are 10-0 and your team is not.

 

[Intergalactic Kegger]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

 

[Cool in the pocket]

The Patriots are 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 10th in yards per carry. So, please, let's stop with all of this "the Patriots cannot run the ball" nonsense.

I think most would agree they can run the ball, they just choose not to. Their offense flows through the pass obviously and there doesn't seem to be any reason to change.

 

[greenline]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

The Patriots give up 89 yds per game on the ground. Good luck with that theory.

 

[geoff8695]

The Patriots are 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 10th in yards per carry. So, please, let's stop with all of this "the Patriots cannot run the ball" nonsense.

Who is saying they can't run the ball?

 

[sho nuff]

Alot of that is skewed by earlier in the year too.

But when Maroney and Morris were both out...they struggled running the football.

Break down by game...Maroney or Morris was around through week 5. Both out week 6. Maroney was back week 8.

1 - 37-134...3.6 yards per carry

2 - 23-144...4.5 yards per carry

3 - 38-177...4.7 yards per carry

4 - 34-173...5.1 yards per carry

5 - 32-147...4.6 yards per carry

now without Maroney or Morris

6 - 29-75...2.6 yards per carry

7 - 22-84...3.8 yards per carry

Maroney back

8 - 35-152...4.3 yards per carry

9 - 28-105...3.8 yards per carry

10 bye

11- 29-127...4.4 yards per carry

They ran the ball more, and more effectively to start the year. The injuries to the backs hurt them...and even since they they run the ball less than what they did to start the season.

I think its more now from not needing to run as much...as opposed to not being able to now. Though, those games with both RBs hurt...I think they did struggle in the run game...which is why they could not run down the clock via the run against Miami and instead put Brady back in the game to throw the ball more and get another TD once Miami was within 3 TDs.

 

[Workhorse]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

Lots of teams have tried that. The Colts ran the ball very well on the Pats in the first half but the Pats choked out the running game in the second half.The problem with trying to run the ball all the time on the Pats is while they might give up a 10 yard run on occasion, they'll also force you into 3rd and long more often then not. That's pretty much what happened to the Redskins when they tried to force feed the ball to Portis. The problem with being patient with the running game against the Pats is that they scored TDs in a hurry. Not much good eating up the clock when you're down 3 TDs at halftime.

 

[Clifton]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

It's weird how no NFL coaches have uncovered this glaring hole and you have

 

[Sweeper]

The Patriots are 5th in the NFL in rushing yards and 10th in yards per carry. So, please, let's stop with all of this "the Patriots cannot run the ball" nonsense.

Who is saying they can't run the ball?

The same guys that are saying "if you want to stop Brady, just blitz him".

 

[PatsFanCT]

It is kina' funny. The same people that are saying the Pats can't run the ball are the same people saying they should run the ball when they have a big lead.

 

[Ghost Rider]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

The Patriots give up 89 yds per game on the ground. Good luck with that theory.

The Patriots allow 4.2 yards per carry, which is 21st in the NFL. In other words, they can be run on. Their rushing yards allowed per game is so low because teams abandon the run because they get down by so much.

 

[pats3in4]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

The Patriots give up 89 yds per game on the ground. Good luck with that theory.

The Patriots allow 4.2 yards per carry, which is 21st in the NFL. In other words, they can be run on. Their rushing yards allowed per game is so low because teams abandon the run because they get down by so much.

Miami ran successfully on them after being down 42-7 at the half. The Pats were in nickel and dime packages the entire 2nd half, expecting Miami to throw to catch up. Addai ran well in the 1st half against them, yet again the Pats were in a nickel as their base D. In the 2nd half, Addai was shut down despite the Pats continuing to play in their nickel.A better measure of that 4.2yds/carry allowed would be knowing what they give up while in their base 3-4. These numbers would be harder to dig up. I do remember that LDT and MB3 did squat in their first halves while their teams were trying to run the ball and play keepaway from Brady. To be fair, I believe Cleveland and Cincy both ran fairly well in their 1st halves, but turned the ball over in the redzone which killed their chances, but against these teams the Pats may have also been in nickel as well so I'm not sure how everything went down.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Has anyone said they can't run the ball? I hang out with some well respected members of the Pat-hating community and even I've never heard that.

 

[jurb26]

Has anyone said they can't run the ball? I hang out with some well respected members of the Pat-hating community and even I've never heard that.

Yes, several people have said this.

 

[Bill Lust]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

The Patriots give up 89 yds per game on the ground. Good luck with that theory.

Yeah, but who is going to run when you are down by 3 touchdowns? They are in the bottom half of the league in yards per carry against. Dallas and Indy both had success running against them. As a Pats fan, this concerns me more than anything else. The question is, how many teams are there who can run the ball AND have the defense to slow the Pats down? That's a rhetorical question.EDIT: Whoops, see this was covered.

 

[Mustang Man]

My contention is "can they STOP the run?" If I played the Patriots, I'd run it all day and keep Brady and Moss on the bench. Eat the clock. I'd probably run it on 4th and short a couple times. Hopefully wear their D down in the 4th quarter and then start ripping off big runs.

The Patriots give up 89 yds per game on the ground. Good luck with that theory.

The Patriots allow 4.2 yards per carry, which is 21st in the NFL. In other words, they can be run on. Their rushing yards allowed per game is so low because teams abandon the run because they get down by so much.

This is way to obvious, but the Pat's lovers refuse to see any way that the Pats can be beat. They can be ran on and can be beat using that game plan, wearing that defense down while keeping Brady off the field and playing the best game you can that day. Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Indy have a shot in the AFC without question using that game plan. Dallas in the NFC. That is it. NE is the best but this is the NFL and things change on a dime. Mark it down it will not be as easy as it is now the whole season. Although I would not call the Indy game easy at all.