Although the New England Patriots are the first team in the NFL to get to 10 wins this season and were over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 12, head coach Mike Vrabel's team lost the in-game battle in multiple ways. With an extra day of preparation ahead of their next game on Monday Night Football, the Patriots need to clean up and improve in a couple of areas to keep their successful season going — especially on the ground.
The Patriots have struggled all season to establish a run game, averaging 112.4 yards per game, which ranks near the bottom half of the league at 19th. On Sunday, against the worst defense in the league with the Bengals, the Pats were still unable to get production on the ground, and it's becoming more concerning entering Week 13 of the season.
Patriots' Backfield Struggles Highlighted by Red Zone Woes
The Patriots' ground-related struggles are perfectly encapsulated by how the red zone offense has been abysmal for them this season. Entering Week 13, the Patriots rank 30th in run success rate from the two-yard line. This past week, New England went 0-for-7 in these spots against Cincinnati, which includes a failed tush-push attempt in addition to nobody on the roster being able to get the ball into the endzone on the ground.
Another way the Patriots have tried to enhance the run game is by having defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga filter in at fullback to open up running lanes on power run plays. But Tonga’s workload is changing on the defensive line with Milton Williams on injured reserve, so his focus and energy is going to be needed more for that than for offense.
It’s worth pointing out that Tonga was part of the large inventory of injuries that happened between both teams in this game. He was hurt, exiting with a chest injury after he dropped to a knee in the second quarter. Despite trying to play through it, Tonga’s status for Monday is uncertain.
The thing is, it shouldn’t come down to relying on a defensive tackle to open running lanes on offense. The offensive line needs to do a better job of winning its matchups and moving the man in front of them to create opportunities for the run game.
To their credit, the Patriots tried to implement a traditional offense with a fullback. They had a true fullback on the roster in Brock Lampe, but he got hurt during training camp and was put on IR. They also transitioned Jack Westover from tight end to fullback, but that hasn’t really worked out well either.
Patriots Need More Variety In Run Game
On the season, the Patriots are only averaging 2.3 rushing yards before contact and 1.6 yards after contact, which both rank at the bottom of the league at 25th and 22nd, respectively. For what it’s worth, quarterback Drake Maye and the offense are capable of marching down the field to get into the red zone, but it’s useless if they’re unable to score touchdowns once they get there.
At this point in the season, the Patriots need to get back to running personnel packages for the run game. Earlier this season, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called some run concepts out of 21 personnel and 22 personnel that worked well, but there hasn’t been much of it since.
Vrabel has always valued being a run-heavy, ground-and-pound football team throughout his coaching career. However, that was easy to do when he had Derrick Henry for those six years in Tennessee, as he led the league in rushing attempts in four of the six years.
The Patriots can benefit from adding variety to their running game, not to mention that they have the personnel to do it from a skill position perspective. It might be time to reopen that chapter of the playbook, especially if they don't want to risk ending the season on a whimper.