I don’t fault them for TRYING to run, I fault them for not being able to run yet continuing to try, after they had success with the spread prior to halftime when they moved the ball at will. I know we want the offense to be balanced, but at some point you have to know what your bread-and-butter is and use that as your hammer.
Per Football Outsiders this is the worst running attack the Patriots have had in 11 seasons. They’re currently 19th in the NFL in that category. They’re also 22nd in the NFL picking up first downs when they run the ball on third or fourth down with 1-3 yards to go.
So I’m just not convinced they really are the power running team they want to be in certain situations and I think it’s time to realize that and play to their strengths, instead of trying to force the issue to prove a point.
I firmly believe in “throw to score, run to win” and I think the Pats have the pieces to run to win. But last week they were trying too much to “run to score” in my opinion.