FOXBORO — The Patriots’ offense has taken a major leap this season thanks to the contributions of quarterback Drake Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, but their running game remained inconsistent throughout most of the year.
In recent weeks, that’s changed.
Since Week 13, the Patriots rank third in EPA per rush and fifth in rushing success rate. That’s been a major shift, since they ranked 30th in rush EPA and 30th in rushing success rate through the first 12 weeks of the season.
“I think we’re always trying to improve it, and we’ve made progress, definitely,” McDaniels said Thursday. “And I think that there’s no shortcuts to doing that, but I definitely think we’re in a better place now than what we’ve been at. And that’s all 11 guys on the field doing their job the right way.
We’ve stayed at it, the guys up front, the coaches … they’ve done a really good job of emphasizing the things we need to do to get better in that area. We want to be balanced. We want to stay balanced. We know where we play. And when the weather gets a little crazy, every once in a while, you’re going to need to be able to turn to hand the ball to the back and block people and run the ball when they know you got to run it and that you want to run it. And so I’m excited for the progress that we’ve made, and look forward to us trying to continue to improve that area of our game.”
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson is averaging 6.7 yards per carry over his last three games, while rookie TreVeyon Henderson is averaging 6.1 yards per clip since Week 13. Henderson’s average is helped by two 50+ yard carries in the Patriots’ Week 15 loss to the Bills.
“I think me, TreVeyon and just the backs and the O-line are just merging together and on the right tracks right now, and we’re running hard,” Stevenson said. “We’re running behind our line. Jack (Westover) is doing a good job blocking for us. It’s just going our way right now.”
Westover delivered a key block on a touchdown run by Stevenson before suffering an ankle injury late in Sunday’s win over the Jets. The Patriots also could be getting more help on their offensive line this week with the potential return of rookie left tackle Will Campbell.