New England Patriots Lack of Running Game Could Be Playoff Weakness

January 6, 2016   ·   Erik Frenz   ·   Jump to comments

Tom Brady is the cure for almost everything that ails the New England Patriots. So are Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski. But one thing that none of these three men can immediately control is how effectively the team can run the football.
Brady's presence behind center forces the opponent to always respect the pass. Gronkowski's size and ability as a blocker make him one of the league's best tight ends at opening up holes in the running game. Edelman and Amendola can take short passes for long gains, creating a pseudo-running game via the passing game.
But at some point in the playoffs, the Patriots are going to have to line up and run the football. In Week 17 against the Miami Dolphins, they failed in that area. But they've been struggling to run the ball for months—and really, for almost the entirety of the season.
The Patriots haven't tried very hard to establish the run based on their number of attempts, but when they have, they haven'...

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