New England struggled to perform in the running game on both sides of the ball.
The New England Patriots made no secret of their intentions heading into the 2024 season. They wanted to rely on their running game on offense, and simultaneously be stout against the run on defense.
And while they did show some encouraging signs in those two areas early on this year, they have struggled mightily in both as of late. Sunday’s 20-17 overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans was the most recent collapse in that regard, and it led to head coach Jerod Mayo openly calling his team’s attitude and mentality in question.
“I’ve always felt that stopping the run and running the ball starts with your attitude. It starts with your attitude. It starts with your mentality,” Mayo said after the game. “We just have to do better on both sides of the ball.”
Mayo addressing the Patriots’ inability to perform in the run game is nothing new. The rookie head coach infamously labeled his team soft “across the board” after a Week 7 loss to another AFC South team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Going up against the one-win Titans, the Patriots again looked suspect in that regard.
On offense, they had major issues moving the ball on the ground once again. With the exception of quarterback Drake Maye finding scrambling lanes — he ended the game with 95 yards on eight such carries — New England’s run game was virtually non-existent yet again on Sunday.
Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty combined for 12 carries that resulted in a net gain of a mere 15 yards. While Stevenson did find the end zone once, the team’s insufficient performance led to its ultimate demise yet again.
“Have to be able to run the football, obviously that was disappointing,” said Mayo.
“We’ve got to be able to move guys off the line. I thought their defensive line did a good job. They were hard to handle inside, especially [Jeffery Simmons], and we knew that coming into the game. Just got to be able to stand up. Every team that we play, they’re going to have either good edge rushers or good interior rushers, we’ve just got to do a better job of getting those guys off the ball.”
The Patriots’ issues with the running game started up front, where the team once again decided to shuffle the deck. Instead of using last week’s starting offensive line consisting of Vederian Lowe, Michael Jordan, Ben Brown, Michael Onwenu and Demontrey Jacobs, the team decided to insert rookie Layden Robinson at right guard and move Onwenu back to his former spot at right tackle.
The new-look lineup struggled, and Robinson was pulled toward the end of the second quarter. At that point, New England had gained 8 total yards on five non-scramble run plays — a sign of things to come for the remainder of the afternoon.
As a consequence, and not accounting for Maye scramble drills, the Patriots have now failed to cross the 100-yard barrier in four straight games and six of nine overall this season. For a team putting its hopes in the running game during the roster construction phase, that has to be one of the biggest disappointments so far.
Of course, if the mentality and attitude have to change on offense, the same is true for the defense as well.
“Again, leaky run defense,” said Mayo. “There were times where it goes back to fundamentals. We spend a lot of time talking about the Xs and Os, but I thought the tackling still needs to improve. That’s part of it.”
If the Patriots’ are on a cold streak on offense, their run defense is operating at Antarctic temperatures. Ever since losing linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley in Week 2, the unit has not held an opponent below 100 rushing yards — an active streak of seven such games, including Sunday’s 39-carry, 167-yard outing by the Titans.
New England’s run defense was already uneven in regulation, but it appeared to trend in the right direction as the game went along. After surrendering 81 yards on 15 carries in the first half, the unit toughened up in the second to the tune of 44 yards on 15 runs.
However, any signs of progress quickly went out the window in overtime: Titans running backs Tony Pollard and Julius Chestnut combined for eight carries and 41 yards to set up what turned out to be the game-winning field goal. Tennessee’s ability to rely on its running game in the 10-minute period left only 2:32 on the clock when Drake Maye and the New England offense took possession of the ball again.
“It was very tough,” Jerod Mayo said about the Titans’ field goal drive in overtime. “We’ll watch the film and see what happened, but it was tough. Those long drives have hurt us at times this year.”
For linebacker Jahlani Tavai, who played one of his better games of the season on Sunday, there really is no secret when it comes to New England’s run defense. It’s all about adhering to a New England staple.
“We just have to continue to do our jobs. Our jobs aren’t just our assignments. It’s tackling, it’s getting all eleven hats to the ball. It’s a scary thing when you put on a film, and you see eleven guys at the ball,” he explained.
“Whether it’s punt or kickoff, the moments we are in that returner’s face, it’s a scary thing. That’s something we have to build and have play-to-play on the defensive side. I got nothing but trust and faith in these guys. We’re going to make sure we get it right.”
So far, the Patriots have not managed to do that. And with the halfway point of their season now in the rear-view mirror, one has to wonder if they ever will.
That is, unless they find a way to change their attitude and mentality — if their head coach is to be believed.