Patriots' Running Game Must Give Tom Brady, Offense More in Super Bowl Push

Take a breath, New England Patriots fans. That was one outstanding football game.

Even without the benefit of the team's vaunted rushing attack, Tom Brady and the rest of the Pats found a way to outpoint the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 and move on to the AFC Championship Game.

As refreshing as it was to see vintage Brady tear up the Ravens defense for 367 yards passing and three touchdowns, the disappearing act the Patriots' ground game pulled is a cause for concern.

Against the Ravens, the Pats ran for a total of 14 yards on 13 carries. That's 1.1 yards per carry, for those keeping track at home.

It didn't really matter who the running back was; each guy who has been responsible for moving the chains in the backfield couldn't get a thing going behind New England's offensive line.

Andrew Aziz of StampedeBlue.com even compared the Patriots to the Indianapolis Colts this year based on their lack of success running the ball:

If you knew the Patriots would run for 14 yards against the Ravens before the game, odds are that you would have bet on the Ravens to prevail.

It's been a weird yet prolific season for the Patriots. Throughout it all, the Patriots coaching staff has rotated between a slew of backs who have all had their moments.

Officially speaking, the Patriots were the NFL's 18th-ranked rushing team, averaging 107.9 yards per game. Those numbers aren't overwhelming by any means. Nevertheless, they were important to the overall philosophy of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel's play-calling.

Michael Whitmer at the Boston Globe cobbled together an extensive piece earlier this year detailing how the run game has balanced out the rest of the offense. Talking to Whitmer, Brady emphasized the importance of running the football.

"Running the ball, you really can control the pace of the game, you can control the tempo of it. When we run it well, it’s really critical to our success," the veteran QB said.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

That formula worked well all season. Looking at the last six games of the team's schedule, the Pats attempted 200 passes. In that same stretch, they called 144 runs.

With Brady under center, that's about as much balance as you're going to get.

Whether Brady's performance against Baltimore was an anomaly or not remains to seen. The passing game was on fire from get-go with Tom serving as the conductor. With Super Bowl aspirations on the team's mind, it would be great to see the running game come back to life during the AFC title game.

Regardless of whether they face the Colts or the Denver Broncos, finding a way to run the football and control the trenches could very well be the difference between the Patriots playing in Arizona or sitting at home in February.

Logically, the Patriots should be rooting for the Colts to unseat the Broncos in their divisional-round matchup.

Looking at Pro Football Focus' data (subscription required), the Colts finished the season with a negative-5.9 team run defense grade. On the contrary, the Broncos were one of the league's best, finishing 2014 with a positive-64 mark.

You never know what you're going to get from the Patriots offense. That is especially true with their running backs. Remember Jonas Gray—the guy who ran the ball 37 times for 201 yards and four touchdowns versus the Colts in Week 11?

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

He carried the rock just 20 times from Week 12 until Week 17 and didn't touch the ball against the Ravens. And that's all right. Like we said earlier, the Patriots have always found a way to get it done, no matter who's toting the pill.

The good news is that the Patriots beat both the Broncos and the Colts during the regular season by huge margins, and they beat them in two very different ways. Indianapolis was torn apart on the ground, while Denver fell victim to "Air Brady."

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

New England's offense is more than good enough to get the job done. Be that as it may, think about this: Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck are two of the top quarterbacks in the game today. The less they are on the field, the better off the Patriots will be.

What better way to keep them off that field than by running the ball and lighting up the scoreboard in the process?

At the end of the day, points matter the most. Coach Bill Belichick said it best when speaking to Whitmer: "Balance isn't nearly as much of a concern for me as moving the ball and scoring points. That’s really what we’re out there for."

Still, when you have to go against the likes of Manning or Luck, obliterating the clock should be a big part of the game plan.

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of ESPN.com.