Can Jonas Gray, Patriots Running Game Remain Pivotal Part of Offense?
New England Patriots running back Jonas Gray has a lot of layers.
He's a funny guy, but there's nothing funny about his bulldozing style of running.
Scratch that: If Gray can sustain the kind of performance he had against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night (38 carries for 199 yards and four touchdowns), the only thing funny may be watching defenders try to tackle him.
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For years, the Patriots offense has been classified as a "finesse" offense, with a timing-oriented passing game and a running game that could be effective in spots but often struggled to get the tough yards when their opponents were expecting a run.
They have even struggled in that area this season. On 2nd-and-1 and 3rd-and-1, the Patriots have run the ball 26 times and have earned 15 conversions (57.7 percent), the fourth-lowest percentage in the NFL.
Bump the sample size up to second- and third-down situations with three yards or fewer remaining for a first down, and the Patriots move up ever so slightly to the eighth-lowest percentage (28 conversions on 47 attempts, or 59.6 percent).
But against the Colts, the Patriots successfully ran the ball to convert six of seven opportunities (85.7 percent) on second and third down with three yards or fewer to go.
In the past, the Patriots' inability to run the ball when opponents knew it was coming has damaged the Patriots' playoff hopes. They rushed for an average of 85 yards in their past three playoff defeats.
Gray looks determined not to let these Patriots suffer the same fate, plowing his way through defenders and hitting holes with conviction. Gray's big night was thanks to equal parts hard-nosed running and crater-sized holes for Gray to run through. It was almost an even split, actually; Gray earned 100 of his 199 rushing yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
He earned 14 of those yards on a 14-yard carry with 13:35 remaining in the third quarter. The Patriots came out in a two-tight end set with offensive tackle Cameron Fleming lined up at tight end on the right side. The Colts responded with their base 3-4 defensive front.
Gray was hit at the line of scrimmage by two different defenders (first frame), but he was able to drive through the contact thanks to low pad level and a good centering of his balance. Eleven yards later, two Colts defensive backs converged on him from either side (second frame) and Gray was still able to plow forward for three more yards.
Gray's style of running has allowed him to step in seamlessly for the injured Stevan Ridley. Thanks to his emergence, the Patriots have the look of a team that can still run the football effectively between the tackles and with a hard-nosed mentality.
Even if, by some stroke of awful luck, Gray were to also be injured, the Patriots would probably still field a formidable ground game, thanks to their big men up front opening holes for their backs.
The interior of the Patriots' offensive line has really helped the offense find its rhythm, and that applies to both the passing game and the running game. On 2nd-and-3 with 10:54 remaining in the first quarter, the Patriots came out in an offset I-formation in the 21 personnel grouping (two backs, one tight end, two receivers). The Colts responded with a base 3-4.
Fullback James Develin (circled in yellow) was the lead blocker on the play, getting out to the second level for a block on the linebacker, but center Bryan Stork and right guard Ryan Wendell also executed key directional blocks to open a huge hole for Gray.
Stork blocked to his left, Wendell blocked to his right and Develin cleared out the linebacker. All Gray had to do was turn on the accelerator and hit the hole right in front of him.
The Patriots ran the ball directly down the throat of what was the league's ninth-ranked rush defense (98.1 yards per game before Sunday night), bumping the Colts all the way down to the 17th-ranked rush defense (112.7 yards per game after Sunday night).
Running back Shane Vereen got in on the fun and didn't even have to break stride on this 18-yard carry. Tight end Rob Gronkowski has also been a key to the Patriots' offensive success but not only for the reason you think. He has been dominant in the receiving game, looking more comfortable each week, but he is also getting back to his old self as a blocker.
This run is another example of good directional blocking. Here, Gronkowski (circled in yellow) provides a nice block to set the perimeter, while right tackle Sebastian Vollmer (circled in red) blocks to his left.
The two blocks opened up a hole big enough for Vereen to squeeze through, and he carried his momentum through the hole for a long gain on the ground.
As dominant as Gray was on Sunday night, his success would not have been possible without an equally dominant showing from the men up front.
"I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage, which was huge," quarterback Tom Brady said following the win, via Patriots.com. "I thought Jonas ran great, but it all starts with the big guys up front. They played a good game."
Make no mistake; the 2014 Colts will not ever be confused for the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, and even headed into Sunday night, they were allowing big chunks on a per-carry basis (4.4 yards per attempt before Sunday night ranked 28th, 4.6 after Sunday night ranks 30th).
| Dropbacks | 113 | 269 |
| Dropback % | 29.6 | 70.4 |
| Att. | 105 | 260 |
| Comp. | 70 | 164 |
| Comp % | 66.7 | 63.1 |
| Yards | 953 | 1695 |
| YPA | 9.1 | 6.5 |
| TD | 6 | 18 |
| INT | 2 | 3 |
| Rate | 106.6 | 100.1 |
The Patriots offense as a whole benefits greatly when the running game gets going. Quarterback Tom Brady has even relied on the running game, to an extent; Brady has attempted 29.6 percent of his pass attempts off of a play-action fake, according to Pro Football Focus, which puts him at the fifth-highest percentage in the league.
Brady has been deadly no matter how you slice it, but he has completed 3.6 percent more passes for 2.6 more passing yards per attempt off play action than on standard dropbacks. That marriage of the running and passing game bodes well if the Patriots can keep the ball moving on the ground.
"We always try to stay balanced," Brady said. "You never go in there saying, 'We're gonna run it this much or throw it this much,' you always try to really get the runs on your terms, and if they're going to load up and stop it, you've got to throw it. But if they're not going to respect the running game, then you've got to keep giving it to him."
It appears the Patriots' ground game is sustainable, and the offense will need to keep things in high gear over the next few weeks, as well, with a daunting schedule up ahead.
The Patriots aren't going to run for more than 200 yards in every single game, but the fact that they proved they can do it when the situation calls for it is an important statement that the Patriots can continue to be successful doing what they've done for years: adapting their offensive game plan to attack an opponent's weakness.
| Detroit Lions | 15.6 (1) | 290.3 (1) | 5.9 (6) | 3.0 (1) |
| Green Bay Packers | 22.5 (17) | 377.4 (25) | 6.2 (9) | 4.5 (28) |
| San Diego Chargers | 19.2 (6) | 331.4 (9) | 6.2 (10) | 4.4 (23) |
| Miami Dolphins | 18 (4) | 302.5 (2) | 5.2 (1) | 3.8 (7) |
"I think you've got to be able to find different ways to win," Brady said. "Depending on the matchup that you get, you've got to kind of devise a game plan that you think is going to work. And then once you get in there, you see if it works. And if it's going good, you kind of stay with it, but you've got to be able to adjust."
The stretch run will ask them to adjust quite a bit. In the next four weeks, they will be coming up against three defense that rank in the top 10 in the NFL. The Detroit Lions' defensive front will probably be much harder to push around than the Colts were. The same can be said of the Miami Dolphins, who already handled the Patriots offense once this season.
The Patriots are closing in on the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC, and if their offense continues to fire off on all cylinders—as it has in scoring 37 points or more in five of the past six games—no one will want to face New England down the stretch.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats obtained via Pro-Football-Reference.com and all quotes obtained via Patriots.com.
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