Patriots run defense reaches embarrassing low point against Cardinals

New England surrendered 164 rushing yards in Week 15.

The 2023 New England Patriots had all sorts of issues, but run defense was certainly not one of them. The unit led by Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo as de facto co-defensive coordinators was among the best in the NFL in stopping opposing ground games.

Teams averaged only 3.3 yards per carry against New England last year, which ranked first in the league. The unit also found itself near the top of the table in expected points added per run (-0.187; 2nd) and success rate (34.0%; 2nd). No matter the metric, the 2023 Patriots were very good in that particular part of the game.

The 2024 version of the team, on the other hand, is not. In fact, the unit’s one-year drop-off is staggering, with Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals as the low point so far.

The performance was nothing short of embarrassing considering that the Patriots a) were coming off a bye week, and b) are led by a head coach — the aforementioned Jerod Mayo — whose expertise should be the defensive side of the ball. Frankly, it was the type of performance to make you question the future of everybody involved both on and off the field.

Let’s start by looking at the numbers. Not counting a kneel-down to end the game, the Cardinals ran the ball 31 times for 164 yards, averaging a whooping 5.3 yards per carry; they also scored a couple of rushing touchdowns. Arizona gained 0.090 expected points every time it handed the ball off.

Mayo did not sound overly concerned about that output after the game.

“We give up a big run play that really hurts us and really skews the rest of the stats,” he said during his postgame presser.

Mayo does have a point considering that the Cardinals’ run average drops to 3.7 yards per run without James Conner’s 53-yard scamper in the first period. However, the play still happened. And also, the final stat line was not the main issue for the Patriots run defense on Sunday.

As a look at the tape shows, the problems were wide-spread. Most concerning, they went beyond talent limitations: an apparent lack of effort and focus also cost New England against the Cardinals.

One could point to career rotational players such as Daniel Ekuale, Sione Takitaki and Christian Elliss all being pressed in prominent roles as a problem. However, the Patriots’ core personnel also had its fair share of breakdowns.

Linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Jahlani Tavai both played with inconsistent fundamentals, as did safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers. Bad pursuit angles, failure to wrap-up tackle, insufficient gap integrity, you name it — New England is relying on those four guys to serve as cornerstones of their run defense, and on Sunday they all were hit-or-miss on too frequent a basis.

The responsibility to get those right on the field falls on the players, something Mayo rightfully pointed out after a loss to Miami in Week 12. However, one could not watch the performance at State Farm Stadium and not also point to him and his staff.

The Patriots seemed unprepared despite having extra rest and one more practice in the week leading up to the game. Even though the shortcomings were most drastic in that particular part, they extended beyond the run defense.

Whatever the reason — motivation, coaching, leadership, travel — New England didn’t seem to show the focus or determination necessary to compete on a play-to-play basis. That more than anything is damning, and made Sunday’s outing much more maddening than the final score of statistics posted by either team (although those all tied into one another, of course).

The perfect encapsulation of all that was that 53-yard carry by James Conner in the first quarter.

“We had two players that were pretty much unblocked that probably should have made that play,” Mayo said about the play. “They expect to make those plays, and we as a coaching staff expect them to make those plays. …

“We were there to make the play. We just didn’t finish the play, which is a frustrating thing, and it turns into a 50-yard gain. That’s what the NFL is. Every play is six seconds, and you’ve got to have ultimate focus and ultimate execution in six-second increments, and we just weren’t able to do that.”

Call it a lack of focus, a lack of execution, or something else, the Patriots defense was unable to play the football needed to compete against Arizona’s offense on Sunday. And for the once-mighty unit, that was the latest step in what has been a hard fall from grace this season.

Going back to the numbers mentioned above in regards to the 2023 team, we can see that the 2024 Patriots are ranked a respectable 14th in yard per carry (4.4). Compared to last year, however, that is a sizable step back — one that is even more pronounced in the other categories, EPA per play (-0.053; 20th) and success rate (40.9%; 21st).

The Patriots and their defensive coaches have plenty of work to do to get the unit back to where it needs to be. That is especially true versus the run, because Sunday was embarrassing.