“As long as our defense takes care of business, then we feel like we can really get after them in the running game,” left guard Matt Slauson said. “We’ve always had a lot of success on the ground there.”

Slauson said the Patriots “always leave a lot of big holes in the middle” of their 3-4 defense, but they’re actually playing quite a bit of 4-3 this season, with massive tackle Vince Wilfork and Albert Haynesworth (if healthy) in the middle. That’s 675 pounds of run-stopping force in the middle.