Patriots' Run Game Falters In Loss To Eagles
The New England Patriots' offense was a mixed bag in their 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's season opener.
On one hand, the Patriots managed to gain over 100 more yards of total offense than the reigning NFC champions despite holding the ball for less time. After an abysmal start that had the Patriots turn it over twice on their first two drives - including a Pick 6 - the offensive unit began to settle down and find its rhythm. The Mac Jones-led passing attack clicked in the second half as he finished the game with 35 completions on 54 attempts for 316 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
On the other hand, the ground game never truly got going the way the Patriots would've liked. This game marked the debut of New England's new backfield duo of Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott, but neither player had a particularly impressive season debut.
Playing in his first game for the Patriots, Elliott mustered just 29 yards on seven carries with a long of 11 yards. Granted, his 4.1 yards per carry were more than the 3.8 he averaged last year with the Dallas Cowboys, but still not particularly encouraging.
Stevenson, on the other hand, had an even quieter game with 25 yards on 12 carries, averaging just barely over two yards per attempt. Coming into this game, Stevenson had averaged 4.8 yards per attempt in his first two seasons. To be fair, Stevenson's status coming into the game was questionable after he missed practice on Friday with a stomach bug.
As a team, the Patriots rushed for 76 yards on 22 carries for an average of 3.5 yards per attempt, well below last season's average of 4.3 yards per attempt.
As with any statistic, though, there's an explanation behind New England's subpar running game. With the Patriots trailing for well over 50 minutes in this game, they were forced to adopt a more pass-heavy scheme in order to catch up. As a result, the ground game didn't get as many chances as it would have otherwise.
Still, though, the run game is something the Patriots definitely want to improve going forward. The Eagles had a pretty average run defense last season, allowing 121.6 yards per game despite having the league's best passing defense. With the Patriots hosting the Miami Dolphins next week, who had the league's fourth-best rushing defense last season with 103 yards allowed per game last year, it won't get any easier to run the ball.
