Why have most Patriot teams had mediocre running games?

[Tommy5Rings]

Blount had a good season stats wise even though his ypc were below average. In the playoffs he wasn't very good. Maroney in 2007 was below average. Green-Ellis, Ridley, Vereen were all average rushing backs.

 

[jmt57]

Why have most Patriot teams had mediocre running games?


Because in today's NFL it makes more sense to pass the ball than to run the ball. 7.2 yards per pass attempt was the median in 2016, and that does not take into account yardage and first downs gained on pass interference calls.

By contrast the median yards per rush was 4.2 yards per carry. The best (ypc) rushing teams in 2016 were the Bills and Browns; only two of the top six in that category made the playoffs.

Thanks to rule changes and 'point of emphasis' directives put in place by competition committee members such as Bill Polian, Don Shula and Tony Dungy (in a thinly veiled attempt to help their quarterbacks), teams today should logically place more of their finite assets on the passing game rather than on the running game.

Also keep in mind that stats do not take into account situational football. If the Browns are down by three scores, an opponent may be content to let their running back gain seven or eight yards. By contrast if a team is up by a couple scores in the fourth quarter, a two yard run for a first down is exactly what they wanted to accomplish.

 

[mgteich]

Hmmm

Are you suggesting that having an offense that emphasizes the pass is hard to understand, especially given that we have the best QB in the history of the NFL?

And yes, the two are related. You cannot emphasize (and spend major resources) for both the passing game and the running. Well, you could, but then the defense would be pretty awful.

 

[sb1]

It only seems mediocre because they don't get to play the Colts very often.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Because the talent for the most part has been average at RB. We don't invest alot in the position (for good reason IMO as we have the GOAT QB) aside from a 1st on Maroney and that was a whiff.

The one year we had a legit talent at RB in 2004 we had a great year on the ground and was an actual factor in the playoffs.

 

[MagicMarker]

This is not a new thing.

The Patriots have played 57 seasons. Their career rushing leader (Sam Cunningham) has only 5453 yards. That's lower than any other team. Only Tampa Bay has a career leader under 6000 besides them.

The Patriots have had lots of 1000 yard rushers in their history -- 13 different players in fact. Only two - Jim Nance and Curtis Martin did it more than once. Nance did it twice and Martin did it three times.

See why they had to get rid of Blount? He made 1000 last year, so time to move on.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Food for thought: Patriots rushing yards rank, 2007–2016:

2007: 13
2008: 6
2009: 12
2010: 9
2011: 20
2012: 7
2013: 9
2014: 18
2015: 30
2016: 7

That's not exactly "mediocre."

 

[deroc5050]

Food for thought: Patriots rushing yards rank, 2007–2016:

2007: 13
2008: 6
2009: 12
2010: 9
2011: 20
2012: 7
2013: 9
2014: 18
2015: 30
2016: 7

That's not exactly "mediocre."

Well I don't feel like doing your math but that looks like the definition of mediocre lol. If you added up all those numbers your probably right around the middle of the pack in fact maybe like 18th per year on average. If I am right then that is well.. less than average.

 

[reflexblue]

DUH......Tom F....ing Brady maybe, i duhno.

 

[RayClay]

They haven't had many top shelf running backs, but they've run the ball effectively many years. Don't forget, they broke rushing records with John Hannah. Grandma could have ground out 4 yards a game behind Hog Hannah.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Well I don't feel like doing your math but that looks like the definition of mediocre lol. If you added up all those numbers your probably right around the middle of the pack in fact maybe like 18th per year on average. If I am right then that is well.. less than average.

More like 13th. And if you throw out the non-Scar years (2014 and 2015), it's 10th.

 

[neuronet]

But most defenses are still 'stop the run and make them beat you with the pass' right? Well...aren't they now beating them with the pass? Is it time to invert that strategy? 'stop the pass and make them beat you with the run'?

 

[TennisBallHead]

Playoffs wise, you would think having such a prolific passing attack would open up the run a little more. But teams never really seem to have trouble stopping it (except for Indy, shows how pathetic they really are).

Luckily, they have the greatest QB of all time, and the only one who can win games throwing it 50+ times.

 

[Wheelman]

Food for thought: Patriots rushing yards rank, 2007–2016:

2007: 13
2008: 6
2009: 12
2010: 9
2011: 20
2012: 7
2013: 9
2014: 18
2015: 30
2016: 7

That's not exactly "mediocre."

Interesting stat. The irony of that is Dave Deguglielmo's coaching technique was supposed to make the o-line more effective at running the ball.

 

[deroc5050]

And if you throw out the non-Scar years (2014 and 2015), it's 10th.

And if my sister had a penis she would be my brother.


Besides 2004 the Patriots never really had a top notch running attack. Decent at times but never dominating.

Which is actually weird considering you have 1 of the greatest QB's to ever play the game.

But then again they never really had great RB's.. Besides Dillon everyone else has been serviceable to decent. Maroney was suppose to be but he was under whelming.

It is important for the Pats to be more balanced, they can win 1 dimensional but they are almost unbeatable when they can beat you on the ground and in the air.

 

[TommyD4207]

Blount had a good season stats wise even though his ypc were below average. In the playoffs he wasn't very good. Maroney in 2007 was below average. Green-Ellis, Ridley, Vereen were all average rushing backs.

Because they've got 12.

Also Ridley's 1263 yards in 2012 was 4th in Franchise history, and his 12 TDs were T-6th. Maroney in 2007 averaged 4.5 ypc, and was terrific in the playoffs.

 

[Minitron]

And if my sister had a penis she would be my brother.


Besides 2004 the Patriots never really had a top notch running attack. Decent at times but never dominating.

Which is actually weird considering you have 1 of the greatest QB's to ever play the game.

But then again they never really had great RB's.. Besides Dillon everyone else has been serviceable to decent. Maroney was suppose to be but he was under whelming.

It is important for the Pats to be more balanced, they can win 1 dimensional but they are almost unbeatable when they can beat you on the ground and in the air.

Run/Pass-Ratio of the Patriots since 2009:
2009: Run: 44.05% (21st), Pass: 55.95% (11th)
2010: Run: 47.24% (7th), Pass: 52.76% (26th)
2011: Run: 41.71% (22nd), Pass: 58.29% (10th)
2012: Run: 44.93% (13th), Pass: 54.07% (19th)
2013: Run: 42.81% (16th), Pass: 57.19% (16th)
2014: Run: 41.83% (18th), Pass: 58.17% (14th)
2015: Run: 37.85% (26th), Pass: 62.15% (7th)
2016: Run: 46.71% (5th), Pass 53.29% (28th)
Averages: 43. 39% / 56. 61%

So as you see in 2009 and from 2011 to 2014 the Pats ranked between 13th and 22nd in run-ratio, pretty average and also pretty balanced. In 2010 BJGE rushed for 1000 yards. In 2015 we couldn't run a yard because of injuries to OL and RB's. And in 2016 we had to rely on the running game early in the season because of the Brady-Ban. So i wouldn't say they weren't a balanced team because the real balance of run-pass ration in the league shape out at around 42/58 and not 50/50.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Whatever the heck that BB and McD are doing seems to be working.

I think the point is balance with an emphasis towards the pass play as that puts TBs greatest attributes to maximum use. While it would great to have another Corey Dillon type, from a cap perspective it doesn't make sense to pay triple the $$$ to get that premier back only 5-10% more effect.

Remember our draft position has been relatively low so getting that top tier RB is that much harder (to make it fiscally reasonable) and they rarely hit the open market (or last more than 5 years).

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Well I don't feel like doing your math but that looks like the definition of mediocre lol. If you added up all those numbers your probably right around the middle of the pack in fact maybe like 18th per year on average. If I am right then that is well.. less than average.

131/10 is 13th on average which is 60th percentile, above average......

 

[borg]

-Every team has finite resources to deploy at offense, defense, special teams.
-Positions/groupings that require excess resources must be offset by less expensive pieces.
-In the BB era, NE has used very little premium draft capital to assemble the O line.
-Assembling the bulk of the O line via mid/late round draft picks more often than not buys a lineman with limitations....aka....decent pass blocker/ less than impressive run blocker.
-Some might argue that Brady's main strength is quick reads and quick delivery and thus NE has built their base offense around the sub 2 second passing attack ..... an offense that can't be defended in 2 seconds.
-IMO, the O line is just good enough to allow NE to implement their game plan.
-The eye test shows me the individual pieces typically lose one on one battles when the plays at the LOS get extended.
-For NE, the puzzle fits together nicely...but O line is not the team's strength.