Rhamondre Stevenson Reveals Reason For New England Patriots Struggles

The New England Patriots haven't found much consistency on offense this season. After running back Rhamondre Stevenson's big day, he spoke about some of those issues.

It’s no secret that the New England Patriots have struggled to move the ball this season. From taking over Boston airwaves to calls for head coach Bill Belichick’s job, little has gone smoothly for a team that for so long had the most feared offense in football.

The blame doesn’t just fall on quarterback Mac Jones and a passing attack that is averaging fewer than 10 yards per completion. The ground game, projected to be a strength with running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott, has seen a similar fate. The entire offense has been unable to create explosive plays.

In Week 9’s 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders, though, Stevenson found his longest-gaining play of the season. His 64-yard run was the longest of his career and temporarily put New England ahead.

Stevenson attempts to break a tackle against the Buffalo Bills / © Bob DeChiara, USA TODAY

On Monday, Stevenson spoke about how that play developed, potentially giving insight into how other plays did not come to fruition.

“It was a huge hole, O-Line did their part and Jalen Reagor at the end finished his block on the cornerback,” Stevenson said. “So it kind of made it easy for me.”

He was quick to share the credit. The offensive line hasn’t performed up to the standards that former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia had established, and the cascading effects only put the Patriots further behind the eight ball. That play was a bright spot among another underwhelming Sunday. New England ranks 25th in expected points added per rush (even with an above-average success rate), meaning the big plays have been few and far between.

Stevenson’s emphasis on cohesion as a collective unit would continue. When asked about what has to change, he emphasized working together to keep the offense on schedule.

“It’s just execution, man,” Stevenson said. “Just doing what we know how to do individually and putting that all together, 11 guys on one play doing the right thing. So I think it’s just everybody bringing laser focus to each play and being consistent with it.”

Whether the lack of focus is an indictment on Belichick and his staff is for owner Robert Kraft to decide, but it’s clear after nine weeks and seven losses that this train is off the tracks.

The path back to competency won’t get much easier when the Patriots travel to Germany to take on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

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