Breakdown - Rushing yards allowed versus gained

[cstjohn17]

Breakdown - Rushing yards allowed versus gained. See attached spreadsheet for better detail.

Observations
- the defense was really rolling with Seau, shows you how much a good front 7 can influence the defensive performance
- the Pats allowed a 100 yard rusher in 6 of the last 7 (exception Jets Wild Card), going back further is was 8 out of 11 after week 8. Terrible trend as most BB teams tighten up towards the end of the season
- running game trailed off without Maroney but not that much, overall the rushing attack was wildly inconsistent

General Comments
- I am looking forward to seeing Maroney after a full NFL off season, I expect him to come in around the same weight 218-224 but to be more powerful
- the impact of ILB on our defense cannot be overstated, not exactly news but it seems that the Pats would be well served to restock the postion (and have quality depth), personally I think it was a big gamble to go into the season expecting Bruschi and Seau to stay healthy all year, no roster is perfect but it seemed to catch up with us against the Colts (that and a million other things)

Question
- What can be done to make the running attack more consistent? Should we employ an old school FB like SD? Is it the fault of the offensive line? is it Maroney being indecisive? Did the passing game take so long to develop that teams were able to stack the box? Was it purely the Maroney injury or him hitting a wall?

Help me with this one, thanks.

Notes

Rushing Against
Games 1-10 (with Seau) 76 YPG
Games 11+ (without Seau) 124 YPG

Rushing
Games 1-11 (before Maroney) 124 YPG
Games 12+ (injured or no Maroney) 107 YPG


Note - I don't think this will render very well, use the spreadsheet for better viewing.

Game Opponent Allowed
1 Bills 99
2 Jets 51
3 Broncos 144
4 Bengals 71
5 Dolphins 62
6 Bills 75
7 Vikings 45
8 Colts 53
9 Jets 117
10 Packers 43
11 Bears 153
12 Lions 77
13 Dolphins 131
14 Texans 105
15 Jaguars 144
16 Titans 171
WC Jets 70
DIV Chargers 148
CONF Colts 125


Game Opponent Gained
1 Bills 183
2 Jets 147
3 Broncos 50
4 Bengals 236
5 Dolphins 79
6 Bills 94
7 Vikings 85
8 Colts 148
9 Jets 143
10 Packers 122
11 Bears 85
12 Lions 79
13 Dolphins 123
14 Texans 105
15 Jaguars 117
16 Titans 135
WC Jets 158
DIV Chargers 51
CONF Colts 93

 

[PF1996]

Seau going down was definitely a big blow.

As far as the Pats run blocking, my casual observation suggests the fault lies with the Oline's technique and the wide receivers. Pats Olinemen rarely control the opposing Dlinemen. They rarely get push OFF the line or open lanes like I see teams such as the Chargers, Colts and Broncos doing all the time. I think our wide receivers also negatively affect our running game. They don't block well AT all and they always make it very obvious WHEN they are planning to block rather than run routes. This allows the DBs to run right up to the line of scrimmage which is why there are always free guys ready to tackle Dillon/Maroney even when they manage to get out of their own backfield. Again, this is just casual observation and if the problems were so simple, one would imagine that professional coaches should be able to fix them quickly, which hasn't been the case. So perhaps it's something more complicated.