Yes, but they’re so versatile and ballsy they’ll go to a zone-blocking scheme if they need to, like against the Ravens last year:
And then you have a game such as Sunday’s 41-7 blowout win over Baltimore, in which the Patriots unveiled a new running game to neutralize a size disadvantage along the offensive line. The Patriots were undersized with 308-pound Logan Mankins at left tackle and 295-pound Josh Kline at left guard, so they switched from their power blocking scheme to a zone blocking scheme, which favors athleticism over bulk and could help negate the beefy defensive front of Arthur Jones, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Terrence Cody, and others.
The Patriots broke out the old “stretch” run play that Peyton Manning and the Colts ran for years, in which the offensive line would all flow one way, and the running back would plant, cut, and go upfield against the flow of the defense for a big gain. The Patriots hadn’t run it much, if at all, this season, but LeGarrette Blount and Stevan Ridley pounded the Ravens for 130 yards on 31 carries, mostly out of the stretch play.
Generally though, they’re a power scheme that relies on a lot of pulling by their guards and using their athletic tackles in space as well.
