How to minimize the effect of those stud dlines the Pats will face? Greatly reduce the amount of 2nd and 8+ and 3rd and 6+ this team seems to have so often when Green Ellis/Woodhead gain their two yards on CONVENTIONAL run plays. I don't know about everyone else, but these two guys seem to get an inordinate amount of their yards, especially Woodhead, when the Pats do that inside handoff in obvious passing situations.
I think you're reading a bit too much into a preseason game.
The Patriots didn't game plan any schemes for Detroit, so although the offensive line in particular, and the team as a whole did not play well, I would hesitate to jump to conclusions.
As for the running game, since it was a preseason game the play calling was very vanilla. Think back to last year's regular season game against the Lions; the Pats did not alter anything in this game whereas they made in-game adjustments for the real game.
Also, how 'bout becoming a team that runs 40+ times and passes 20-25 times a game again? That was the formula for winning Super Bowls......
This is one of those things that gets repeated so often that it gets accepted as fact - but in reality is just not true. Seems to me 2010 was eerily similar to 2001 and 2003:
2001: 482 pass attempts, 473 rushes
2003: 537 pass attempts, 473 rushes
2010: 507 pass attempts, 454 rushes
Yes, the Pats did run the ball a bit more in '04, but nowhere remotely near the ratio that you call for:
2004: 485 pass attempts, 524 rushes
Running the ball forty times a game is a thing of the distant past, and it's not coming back. The Chiefs led the league in rush attempts last year, at fewer than 35 attempts per game. Only four teams averaged more than 27 runs per game. Believe it or not the Pats ranked in the top ten in rushing yardage, rush attempts, and rushing yards per carry last year.
Twenty to twenty-five passes per game? Please. Nobody throws the ball that seldom outside of college football teams like Navy. The Bears passed the ball less often than any other team in the NFL last year, and they averaged over 29 pass attempts per game. The days of running the ball twice as often as passing the ball are long, long gone. In addition the supposition that teams like the Steelers or Jets run the ball far more often than they pass is a myth, which is what I am assuming you are alluding to.
If anybody tried a 2:1 run to pass ratio in today's NFL they'd be scoring about ten points a game while going three-and-out over and over again, which in turn would place undue pressure on the team's defense.
It's probably been said over and over, but this team CANNOT line up and pick up 10 yards on the ground in three downs inside four minutes in the fourth quarter like they used to be able to do with Smith and Dillon. This is why I was hoping they would try to make a move for Brandon Jacobs. He's a Beast, he doesn't have a ton of miles on him because he's split carries his entire career, and he's better than Woodhead and Ellis combined...yes, I know, water under the bridge.....
The shelf life of a running back in the NFL is very short due to the wear and tear of so many defensive players piling on him from different angles every time he is on the field. In my opinion I would rather go with two rookies than a 29-year old RB.
