It’s probably going to be the most interesting thing to see in the playoffs, because I think there’s certainly a school of thought that run games aren’t critical when you have a quarterback like Brady. Though Edelman’s status in January is still something I’m very concerned about, I think the loss of Dion Lewis is the biggest killer.
And I don’t think it’s an offensive line issue, I think these guys – Blount, White, Bolden – are who we thought they were. Blount has never been a great player to just generate yards on his own unless it’s the Colts. White hasn’t taken a big step forward like we hoped and Bolden can fill in but isn’t a playmaking running back.
So now we’re stuck trying to generate a ground game while having to work around the lack of talent. If I was going to be critical of the Patriots offseason this is where I’d go. How could we count so much on Lewis (or Gaffney)?
Still, will it matter? Can Blount run over the Colts in the playoffs again if we see them? Possibly. The bigger question is can we put games away? I believe in “Throw to score, run to win”, but can we still run to win? Certainly it doesn’t help that Edelman might not be there, or at least might be less than 100% and he’s a key third down guy.
Even with Lewis coming back next year, they need to really address this position this offseason with a Ridley-esque back. Someone who can make people miss when the initial hole isn’t quite there and still get those four yards. Honestly at this point I’d settle for a Benjarvus Green-Ellis, unspectacular but runs hard out of the backfield and never loses yardage.