Pats Pulpit
Ahead of this year’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat.
The Patriots’ 38-10 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday featured a lot of the first. Still, if the coach wants to look at his team through all three of those categories, who are we to disagree? Let’s break down the regular season finale in exactly that manner.
Facing off against a Dolphins defense that has had its issues against both the pass and the run this season, the Patriots decided for an even approach. They called 29 dropbacks and 27 runs, finding success in both areas.
That said, the run game in particular stood out. Not counting two Joshua Dobbs kneel-downs to end the game, the Patriots gained 245 yards and scored four touchdowns on 32 combined designed runs and quarterback scrambles. New England averaged a massive 7.7 yards per run, and finished with 0.20 expected points added (94th percentile) and a 56% success rate (95th percentile).
“You’d better be able to do that in the tournament, and you’d better be able to take care of the football,” said Mike Vrabel about his team’s success on the ground.
“You’d better be able to create some turnovers, and you have to have efficient quarterback play. That’s no secret. And you’re going to have to execute in situations like we did at the end of the half, whether that be at the end of the half or the end of the game to get some points. That’s what it comes down to.”
A majority of the Patriots’ rushing yards came via three players, running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson as well as quarterback Drake Maye. Maye finished with 41 yards, Henderson with 53 and a couple of scores, and Stevenson with 132 and two touchdowns — his most productive day on the ground since the 2022 season.
While the opponent was anything but stout, the Patriots’ run game as a whole has started hitting its stride lately. With the playoffs coming up, that is good news for the team and its offense.
New England’s special teams operation had its highs and lows throughout the season, and Sunday was more of the same. While the Patriots received some solid contributions from its coverage units as well as punter Bryce Baringer, they also had another problem in the field goal department.
After Andy Borregales hit the right upright on his lone attempt last week against the New York Jets, he hit the arms of Dolphins rusher Zach Sieler in the second quarter on Sunday. Of course, that miss was not on him but the protection up front: New England’s blocking on the left side was not up to the task, allowing Siegler to find a crease...
