Pats Pulpit
New England Patriots running backs carried the ball just 13 times in the season opener. So when asked what he learned about his top three backs, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had a simple response.
“They need the ball more,” he said Thursday with a smile.
The limited work on the ground led to quarterback Drake Maye dropping back a career-high 53 times in the Week 1 loss to the Raiders. No quarterback in football had more attempts in the first week of the season.
That trend should not be expected to continue.
“Obviously, we want to stay balanced as much as we can,” McDaniels said. “That’s always been the way we have operated offensively, and I know that’s the way we intend every game to go. So, I’ve said it a million times, I’ve never called a perfect game. I would love to be right on the perfect line of balance every week.
“When you look back at things, there’s things you wish you would have done a little differently here [or] there. At the end of the day, I always want to try to do what’s best for the team. And some weeks, that’s better done than others. Always try to learn from previous experiences and certainly would try to do a good job of maintaining a balance every week that we can until the game falls into a different category.”
After a balanced run-pass split in the first half, McDaniels admitted things got “sidetracked” in the second half as the Patriots fell behind in the third quarter. Prior to the abandonment of the run game, New England did struggle to run the football effectively as Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson, and Antonio Gibson managed just 45 yards on those 13 carries (3.5 yards per carry).
That was not all on the trio, however, as the Patriots front struggled to generate movement and handle second level players.
“They did some things that pinched us off from getting up to the second level and the linebackers. I’m excited and eager to use those experiences to improve,” McDaniels said. “It’s really difficult to simulate movement sometimes in the running game without being in pads in a game against another opponent that does it differently than the team that you practice against all the time.
“I think this is time on task, and it’s a great opportunity for us to see that in a live setting against a good team.”
Running the football better will be key for the Patriots offense moving forward to help move the football and open up play-action opportunities for Maye and the receivers.
They will get a good chance to right the ship this week against the Miami Dolphins, who allowed 156 yards on 40 carries in their season opener to the Colts.
“We’re trying to establish the run. So, from that point, you win games running the football and stopping the run, so trying to set that up,” Maye said Wednesday. “Those guys that were catching the...
