FOXBOROUGH – The NFL is a passing league. The run game, meanwhile, has largely become an afterthought.
At least, in recent years, that’s been one of the primary storylines when talking about the evolution of modern offenses.
If you’re the Patriots, though, it would be wise to ignore the noise, just like the Philadelphia Eagles did en route to winning a Super Bowl last year.
The Patriots might not have Saquon Barkley, but they have enough firepower with Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and TreVeyon Henderson in their running back stable.
They still need to run. More to the point, they need an effective run game to help Drake Maye, and help unleash his talent.
That’s how it worked for the Patriots in Miami en route to a 33-27 win. Once the run game got untracked, Maye, in turn, thrived in the passing game.
That’s also how it has to work going forward. Having a more balanced pass-to-run ratio is the best recipe for the Patriots.
“Most coordinators want to maintain balance,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Thursday. “It helps every aspect of your team and your game.
“We wanted to try to do that Week 1 and didn’t accomplish that. I told you I need to do a better job and I think our guys executed well (Week 2).”
For the Dolphins game, McDaniels tweaked the offense a bit to tailor it more toward Maye’s skillset after a shaky Week 1.
He dialed up quite a few play-action bootleg throws off outside zone runs, something that’s a staple of the so-called west coast-style offenses run by Kyle Shanahan and others.
McDaniels allowed Maye to operate on the move, which was freeing for the quarterback.
After the Week 1 loss, when the run game was all-but-abandoned in the second half, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said they needed to have a run plan they believed in.
What they showed in Miami is a good place to start.
Having a viable run game also opened up the play-action game for Maye, who lined up under center much more than the previous game, and was able to take advantage of play-fakes.
As luck would have it, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are in town for Sunday’s Week 3 game, line up perfectly for the Patriots offense.
Mike Tomlin’s team hasn’t been able to stop the run. They’ve allowed 100-yard rushers (Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker) in back-to-back weeks.
They’re allowing 149.5 rushing yards per game, fifth worst in the league. So McDaniels has no reason not hand the ball off to Stevenson & Co. and dial up a balanced attack to simplify things for Maye.
Watching the Steelers games against the New York Jets, and Seattle Seahawks, there was also a clear recipe for success: run left.
As in, run to the side T.J. Watt isn’t lined up.
That didn’t work so much for the Patriots Week 1, running away from Raiders star Maxx Crosby. Since other teams feasted on the Steelers going away from Watt, the Patriots should at least give that an initial shot, utilizing runs powered by the blocks of rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson up front.
McDaniels, of course, likes to plan his offense for the week around the defense he’s going to see. So it makes sense for him to pound the rock before taking to the airwaves with Maye.
Some other weeks, it might not be that simple.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to do the same thing every week. That’s hard to do,” McDaniels said. “The other team’s scheme dictates what you can and can’t do.”
Case in point, McDaniels has intentially called 50 pass plays because “we felt like that was the way to win the game.”
In a perfect world, however, Maye won’t be asked to do that. That strategy proved unsuccessful Week 1 against the Raiders when Maye dropped back for 46 pass attempts.
But, as McDaniels pointed out, if you fall behind the sticks, it’s tougher to call run plays. Staying in a positive down and distance allows for more creativity.
The players agree.
“Just being able to run the ball, and throw the ball is important,” Gibson said. “I feel like the more we were able to run the ball, that opens up the pass game. And the more we were able to pass the ball, the more we can run. It goes off each other.
