Closer Look: Patriots Ground Game Struggling Compared to 2013
 Jonas Gray and the Patriots ground game has a lot of work to do. (USA TODAY Images) |
Taking a closer look at the running game for the Patriots through the first nine weeks of the season, it's interesting to see where they are compared to 2013 at this point in the year.
Since the loss of Stevan Ridley in week six New England has been trying to get Jonas Gray more involved in the ground game along with Shane Vereen, and it's been a slow transition as they continue trying to get things going. Considering the fact they had LeGarrette Blount behind Ridley last season, it's been a little tougher of an adjustment and you can clearly see the overall drop off in production. Looking at the charts below you can see a direct comparison of how much more difficult things have been for them through nine weeks.
Here's how things shape up:
2014 Week-by-Week Rushing Totals: - View Full Totals
2013 Week-by-Week Rushing Totals: - View Full Totals
ANALYSIS: You can see last season that the team hasn't had quite as much luck breaking off big runs this season, going for over 20-yards six times through nine weeks in 2013 compared to just once in 2014. Another stat that sticks out is the number of rushes for no gains or a loss (kneeldowns are excluded from this total) compared to last season, which totals 56 in 2014 compared to 48 at this point last season. Those numbers had improved against the Jets and Bears, but they had 10 Sunday against Denver, their highest total since their battle with the Bills back in week six.
The good news? After the drop off in terms of the commitment to the running game against the Jets the Patriots have still been making an effort to run the football, which has helped in the play-action portion of the passing game and remains a critical element in the offense. We've seen improvement on the offensive side of the football in many areas so far this season, so hopefully over the final seven games Gray will continue to grow along with Vereen and put this team in better position to be more competitive over the final month and a half of the regular season.
