Can you really complain about the Patriots’ offense in the Super Bowl when they put up 613 yards of offense and 33 points? The defense has correctly gotten the bulk of the blame from the 41-33 track meet, while Tom Brady has gotten deserved praise for an epic performance in a losing effort.
But I can’t help but wonder if the game might’ve unfolded differently had the Patriots first three drives stalled without touchdowns. A field goal, missed field goal then turnover on downs was far from an ideal start. The Patriots came out featuring James White in what is their passing package. They tried to open games like this quite a few times this season and almost every time the offense stalled until Dion Lewis was inserted and suddenly they started really moving the ball and scoring.
In my Super Bowl gameplan I had hoped Lewis would be the MVP of the game. He was the sneaky MVP of the season, but had just nine touches in the biggest game, a far cry from the 15-carry/three pass target average he had over the final 11 games of the regular season. In the first two playoff games he had 15 attempts/10 targets (TEN), and nine attempts/eight pass targets (JAX).
Overall the nine touches for Lewis was the lowest since Week 5 against Tampa Bay.
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Lewis also didn’t touch the ball inside the Eagles’ 35-yard line. During the regular season no one touched the ball more than Lewis inside the 35 and he picked up a team-best 15 first downs (16 of 55). Lewis picked up a first down 29 percent of his touches/targets inside the 35, while White picked up just 17 percent (6 of 35).
In the Super Bowl, White had eight touches/targets inside the 35 and picked up two first downs.
Again, they scored 33 points, but Lewis was the better firstquarter running back by far this season, and the offense clicked better out of the gate with him in there, instead of the predictable offense with White. White’s very good, but when a team wants to take them away they can, and that’s what the Eagles did with their best defensive back.
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rush | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Ctch% | Yds | TD | 1D | Att ▲ |
Yds | Y/A | TD | 1D |
| Dion Lewis | 12 | 12 | 100.0% | 67 | 1 | 5 | 44 | 187 | 4.25 | 1 | 11 |
| Mike Gillislee | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 103 | 3.96 | 1 | 5 |
| Rex Burkhead | 13 | 11 | 84.6% | 101 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 36 | 2.77 | 2 | 4 |
| James White | 19 | 16 | 84.2% | 118 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 61 | 4.07 | 0 | 3 |
Perhaps with a balanced attack with Lewis those first three drives could’ve finished with more than three points and the Pats wouldn’t have been in catch-up mode for most of the game. Obviously with a defense that couldn’t stop anything time of possession was was vital and the Pats lost it by 34:04 to 25:56.
In fairness, the Pats did use Lewis on the first three drives of the AFC Championship and it produced the same measly three points. Maybe establishing the run is a football myth, but that was consistently what Lewis was most effective at.
Unfortunately Lewis can now walk in free agency. His injury history has to be considered but some team will likely pay him more than the Pats will.
And maybe it’s for the best because the Patriots aren’t quite as in love with him as I am. They also seem intent on making the White passing offense their early tone setter, even if it’s real best use is the second-half finisher.
With Rex Burkhead also a free agent with an injury history, it will be interesting to see how the Pats address their ground game this offseason both from a personnel standpoint and a schematic one.
The defense was main reason for the loss as you said, but strictly looking at the offense for a second….
The offense had 355 yards and 12 points. That’s nearly impossible. If you just give the Patriots the unforced errors (4 points for the missed kicks and a 3 minimum if Brady catches that pass) that’s 7 more points and it’s a different game. We could have scored conservatively 12 more points though, which would have put the Patriots in control despite the defensive performance.
I think they abandoned Lewis because they really thought they could exploit Philly with the pass, and they did, with guys so wide open at times it was unexplainable, but it might have helped the defense to get Lewis going at least a bit. I think he was a big reason the defense was able to keep the points down this season.
When Brady has an above average run game they is unstoppable. See 2004 team. When Lewis is featured what is their record? They were world beaters in 2015 until he went down(with everybody else). I still think benching Steven Ridley in 2011 was a huge mistake. Offense hummer worh him in there . Give Brady a Terrel Davis type back and watch Super Bowl titles role in.
BB never and I mean never pays a RB