New England Patriots on Paper: 4.2 yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets

It was early in October 1976 and a wide-eyed Bill Belichick stood on the sidelines of the brand new Pontiac Silverdome as his Detroit Lions hosted the New England Patriots…

…this assuming that Belichick has been wide-eyed about anything but cheeseburgers, classic rock or stomping anything that got in his way before or since, so one has to assume that the year 1976 –  when kids just coming out of school were weaned on Led Zeppelin, Bachman

Turner Overdrive and Mickey-D’s, and were witnesses to the brutality and horrors of the Vietnam War – was smack in the middle of Belichick’s formative years and have a great deal to do with his obsession to control his environment, as well as everyone else’s.

Belichick, just a year removed from Wesleyan College and earning his stripes as a special teams assistant under head coach Rick Fazano was in the midst of his second season as an NFL coach and his first with the Lions – a mediocre season which saw them eventually finish 6-8 and as afterthoughts in the NFC Central behind the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears…

…it seems like a lifetime ago – and for anyone under 30, it is – but Belichick’s memory of the game is crystal clear, intrigued by the size and power of the Patriots as a whole and equally mesmerized by the innovative schemes of Chuck Fairbanks.

Some years later Belichick would proclaim that the Patriots team that the Lions had soundly beaten that day was perhaps the best in franchise history – their size, speed and philosophy on both sides of the ball to physically overwhelm their opponent, to crush their will with violent overtones and cutting-edge design and skill.

At the center of the offensive design were innovators Ray Perkins and Ron Erhardt who along with Fairbanks built a nearly unstoppable balance of force predicated on the size and versatility of their running backs – boasting three backs that topped the 700 yard plateau, Sam “Bam” Cunningham, Andy Johnson and Don Calhoun leading a rushing attack that gained nearly 3,000 yards in 14 games.

210 yards per game average on the ground is unheard of these days, but if Belichick has his way – and he does – the 2013 New England Patriots will attempt to approach that level of ground production.

1976 saw a 6′ 3″ 225 pound fullback lead the team in rushing. The Patriots carried five backs on the roster, plus the wild card of having the tough as nails Steve Grogan shredding defenses with a 6.6 yards per carry average – Johnson, Calhoun, Horace Ivory and Ike Forte joining Cunningham to pound defenses for an average of five yards per carry…

…which puts last season’s 4.2 yards per carry and nearly 2,200 yard effort to shame, but considering that the NFL is now a passing league in which fundamental football has transformed from the run setting up the play-action pass, to the play-action pass being offset by an occasional run – the Patriots’ 136 yards per game was good enough to be the 7th ranked rushing attack in the NFL, but not good enough for Belichick.

At issue was a running game that in its infancy showed an a certain immaturity, a running game that was at times all about glitz and glamour and lacked substance and a killer mentality.  Though it’s tough to find fault with Stevan Ridley’s 1263 yard effort in 2012, the running game fell into chaos with the rest of the offense when they ran into a gritty Baltimore Ravens’ squad in the AFC title tilt…

…Ridley flinched, ducking his head in anticipation of a Bernard Pollard (who else) hit and getting knocked unconscious and losing the football at a critical juncture – a direct result of a mind set that was focused on finesse and technique rather than punishing the defense.

Before Ridley lost the ball, the Patriots were very much in the game and driving – the rest of the game was a comedy of errors and the horror of being dominated, the result was watching the Ravens celebrate the championship on the Patriots logo, which left a very bad taste in Belichick’s mouth.

It doesn’t matter how dominating the offense was at points in the regular season, because when it failed at the zenith of the season, it counted for absolutely nothing – and the running game was part of that.

His team needed to develop a tough mentality, to exude a confidence that allows for a back to punish a defender, to deliver the hit and run them over, not flinch and absorb the hit and get jacked up and lose the football – and this offseason, the Patriots are accomplishing just that…

The draft day acquisition of LeGarrette Blount from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have told New England Patriots fans everything they needed to know about the mind-set of the team going into the 2013 season.

Blount is a throwback to an earlier time, to the days of Cunningham, Johnson and Calhoun – and was brought in to instill that mentality into the running game.  A bigger back with a history of physical confrontation, the bad boy from the University of Oregon carries over that attitude with the ball in his hands, not trying to dodge anyone, rather, to run them over – to deliver the blow, to punish the defender.

The message got through to Ridley, who showed up at OTA’s looking like Tony Stark had gotten hold of him, truly sculpted and at least 10 pounds heavier than his 2012 playing weight of 220 pounds – the hope being that the transformation will give Ridley the confidence to that he can deliver the blow and punish the would-be tackler…

…not necessarily just to improve upon last year’s 4.2 yards and a cloud of rubber tire pellets, but to punish and dominate defenses while he’s at it – to break their will and not give them the chance to hang around or sneak back into games.

There are other options in the backfield with speedy Shane Vereen providing a slashing change up to Ridley’s hammering style, while Blount, Brandon Bolden, Leon Washington and even Aaron Hernandez will vie for reps in different situations – but the backfield belongs to Ridley…

…and with the entire offense becoming bigger and faster, can the running game approach the violent intent of that fabled 1976 squad?  Only the performance of the backs and the offensive line will answer that question.

A fullback-sized Blount is game, as is a chiseled Ridley – can a string of brutalized defenders be far behind?

Next: The big brutes up front…