What New England needs to do: Establish the running game, aim for 27 rushing attempts When you think about New England’s offense, the first thing that comes to mind is Tom Brady and the Patriots’ devastating passing attack. But the best way to keep the opposing defense honest and open up the secondary for exploitation is to establish a legitimate running game.

Establishing a healthy dose of the run will go a long way to opening up the secondary for the lethal Brady. In their 13 wins this season, the Patriots averaged 28.9 rushing attempts per game. In fact, New England went 7-0 in games in which they ran the ball 27 or more times. But in the Patriots’ three losses, the team averaged only 20.7 carries per game and failed to top 27 attempts in each of those three defeats. Yes, a big second half lead means a team can focus more on the running game in order to drain the clock, but New England ran the ball an average of only 3.25 times more in the second half this season then they did in the first. That’s not a big discrepancy for a team that finished the year ranked second in the NFL in total offensive plays per game (67.6).