cstjohn17

Something I think has hurt the Patriots in their last 3 playoff losses was an inconsistent running attack.

• 2008 Superbowl - The Giants played a scheme that focused soley on rushing the QB.
• 2007 AFCC - Dillion broke a couple of big runs but in the 2nd half when they really needed to establish the run they couldn't get it going. 1 or 2 more first downs and the Colts don't even get the ball back.
• 2006 - Divisional Game - Denver blitzed like mad, showed a total lack of respect for the running game.

This year the running game looked great against SD and then poor against the Giants. Very up and down.

In the off season I expected either a blocking TE or a mauling guard to be added to the mix to establish more of a physical presence along the line.

Maroney will benefit from a full off season of training, he couldn't really work out last year after his surgery.

Open questions
Will the Patriots try to establish a more consistent running game? How will they do this? Will another year in the zone blocking scheme make a difference? Will a healthy Morris back a difference?

blackglass3

Um, how does this apply to Matt Walsh?

Seriously, though, I hope the Pats notice this trend you picked up on. The 2006 AFCCG against the Colts I will say is the anomaly...Dillon broke down pretty quickly that whole year and was just not even close to being what we needed anymore and Maroney had his shoulder/rib/knee/whatever it was injury ever since that Lions game and was just not what we needed.

The other two games you mentioned are very poor game planning and management, and the blame lies fully on the coaching staff. ALL YEAR Maroney was mediocre AT BEST running out of the shotgun. So what did they do in the whole SB? Shotgun. It was ridiculous.

JoePats

I think they will certainly try. The passing game will be good again, but can't be expected to put up the big numbers it did last year.

More than the zone blocking, though another year in the system can't hurt, is simply that Maroney, who was excellent the last 6 games or so and really had no room at all in the Super Bowl, will be entering his 3rd year in the league. He has every right to keep improving. Having Morris back is a plus, he was very effective.

The only way the running game regresses is if the OL plays to the Super Bowl instead of the rest of the games, and I don't see that happening.

So I would say the offense will not be as potent in terms of raw numbers, but will have more of a pass/run balance.

wizwor

meh. that guy morris was pretty good, eh? injuries happen. football teams make do. losing the super bowl is a lofty disappointment.

bostonia3333

I think Belichick used Maroney perfectly last year. He didn't need to against the bad teams. He basically saved him for the playoffs to avoid injury knowing how fragile Maroney was. As far as this year is concerned, I think games against crappy teams like KC, the Jets, Cardinals, Bills, Dolphins, we should run Kyle Eckel like crazy and use Maroney sparingly. Against the big boys like SD and IND, that's where we should use Maroney and Morris fully. I don't think we need a stellar running game to beat 95% of the AFC.

DocE

I'd agree that Belichick used Maroney well last year, but I disagree that the Patriots don't need a stellar running game to beat 95% of the AFC. The Patriots easiest game (on paper) in the playoffs was the Giants game and that was the game they ended up needing the running game in.

As for the original post, I also expected the Patriots to add someone (be it a guard, tackle, or tight end) that would add a more physical presence to the Patriots running game. It was reported that the Patriots made a run at OG Mike Wahle when he was released by Carolina, but he quickly signed with Seattle. The Wahle move happened before the start of free agency, so I thought the running game would be a focus of the offseason. The lack of movement tells me that the coaching staff simply believes the line played an absolutely horrible game against the Giants, but either unreported injuries or a fluke bad game was responsible as opposed to lack of talent.

It still so hard to understand how one unit of the ballclub could play so poorly in such a huge game. If the line was simply bad as opposed to horrendous, history would have been made.

richpats

In the December '06 game at Miami, essentially the same unit played horribly and couldn't handle the speed or different looks that the Dolphins threw at them. I still believe the Pats should have just accepted the fact that their o-line was sucking and gone no-huddle, or at least 3-step drops.

BradyManny

Changes were made, but they didn't seem drastic enough. They added more tight ends, but really nothing worked until it appeared they started running Moss on shorter routes.

In general, I believe that a healthy Sammy Morris combined with an increasingly effective Laurence Maroney will give the team the balanced attack they need. If I have one criticism of McD over the years - and maybe he took this from Weiss - is that it's easy to get pass-happy when you have Brady as your QB. I think good things happen when you run the ball, even if its not overly effective, you have to keep the D honest. Take the Colts game for example, Maroney didn't break any big runs or anything, but it was effective enough. Same for the NYG week 17 game. And the first drive of the Super Bowl, there was a lot of balance, and we didn't see that balance as much the rest of the game.

richpats

I was going to post something to that effect. While not as glamorous, earth-shattering or record-breaking, balancing the offense pays dividends, especially late in a close game. And Tom Brady is good enough that if you just put the ball in his hands he will succeed MOST of the time.

I believe they came out planning to mix it up on the first drive and just blowing the doors off from there on out. They could have ground out a comfortable 24-10 victory instead of forcing things, giving the Giants confidence and ultimately losing.

RayClay

To have a consistent running game, you need to run consistently.

Maroney's style is different than Dillon and Morris, but he's certainly not a lightweight. He was a beast near the end of the year.

Hopefully, he'll get clicking with the OLine on the zone blocking. He's the primary.

Morris is an fine straight ahead runner. I love the combination myself.

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