Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots returned to Gillette Stadium after a Week 13 bye week on Monday, and did so in second place in the AFC with their 11 wins tied for the most in football.
A rapid turnaround under head coach Mike Vrabel now has the Patriots playing for the AFC East championship this weekend and in position to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. With sophomore quarterback Drake Maye in the MVP conversation and the discussion around the team now eyeing wins in January and February, their still remains concerns on the field that could prevent them from getting there.
Here are the three areas we’re watching for improvement coming out of the bye.
An elite Patriots run defense did not allow an opposing running back to eclipse the 50-yard mark for the first nine weeks of the season. But since Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker met that mark, a slump defending the ground game has continued over the past month.
Entering Week 14, New England’s run defense ranked last in success rate over their previous four games as they also have allowed an additional 1.3 yards per carry (4.9 total) compared to their first nine games. While a struggle to consistently build a wall up front has led to an uptick in yards allowed before contact, the downward trend in performance has also coincided with losing star defensive tackle Milton Williams (ankle) while nose tackle Khyiris Tonga suffered a chest injury in Week 12
The hope is the eventual return of Williams (injured reserve) and Tonga, who present in a limited capacity in Monday’s practice, in addition to a week off will lead to better results down the stretch.
On the other side of the football, the Patriots run game remains near the bottom of the league in most metrics despite a recent surge from rookie TreVeyon Henderson over the last month. New England’s struggles specifically in short yardage situations led to a handful of wrinkles (unbalanced line, six o-lineman, wildcat) from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in a win over the Giants.
Now with a healthy one-two punch with Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson, the Patriots will look for better success on the ground down the stretch — where they could perhaps lean into more outside zone runs and get quarterback Drake Maye’s legs more involved in key situations.
A dreadful performance in Cincinnati — which included running eight plays inside the five-yard line and not scoring — highlighted the red zone struggles for the Patriots offense of late. On the year though, New England’s touchdown percentage (51.06) in the red zone ranks 25th in football while they rank 26th in success rate (37.7 percent) and 27th in EPA per play (-0.10).
As the easiest way to score in the red zone is to run the football, much of those struggles date back to the struggles on the ground — especially as New England entered Week 13 30th in...
