New England Patriots' Running Game Needs to Step Up

Week One, Tom Brady went down and is out for the season. That, in a nut shell, is why the running game is needed. When you lose an NFL MVP the caliber of Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury, it is cause for concern.

When you lose any quarterback, its big, but to the Pats, its even worse. See, Brady was the Pats' offense. People say, "Oh, he had good players around him to win."

No he did not. With the exception of last year, he had nobody on that team that would even be considered for a Pro Bowl without him, but they kept winning anyway.

Now that Brady is out, the running game needs to step up. Mat Cassel can't be Brady, we all know that by watching the Patriots/Dolphins game. LaMont Jordan, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, and Laurence Maroney need to step up big for the Pats.

Without them I don't think the Pats will make the playoffs. They all have been injured or something has been wrong and just one or two have been able to go, and never at 100 percent.

Morris is that power back that the Pats need, and Jordan is as well, which means the factor back needs to be Faulk or Maroney.

The two-back system seems to work for the most part in college, so the pros tried it on for a change and loved it, which is the reason the teams using the two-back system have been winning more.

Teams such as the Chargers last year, with Tomlinson and Turner. One back after another, killing the defense. Teams now such as Minnesota, with Peterson and Taylor. The only reason they have won games is because of them.

So the Pats will be ok, as long as they can get the running game going. Last year, they passed it a lot to make up for the lack of a good running game. So now that Brady is out of the offense, they will have to run the ball just as much as they passed the ball last year. And pass it as much as they ran it.

Catching the drift here? Without the two-back system, they will not win, because one back can't handle the load for them, they don't have an L.T. on their team, so two or even three different backs a game need to be in, switch it up, and put them as receivers to fool the D.

Coach Bill Belichick is not taking losing very well, and I know he will start focusing on his weak point the, running game. Maroney, Morris, Faulk, and Jordan, will have to step up, or it is doom for the once-undefeated Pats.