The New England Patriots are still searching for their ground game.
New England has mustered the NFL’s sixth-fewest rushing yards (164) in back-to-back losses. A backfield led by Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, with Mac Jones tallying the team’s longest rush (18 yards) of the season.
Per NESN’s Zack Cox, Elliott described what’s going wrong with the rushing offense.
“We’ve just got to win the line of scrimmage,” Elliott said Wednesday. “We’ve got to come off good on our double teams and just — no other way to put it — just win the line of scrimmage.”
How can the Patriots improve their struggling run game? Ezekiel Elliott says they’ve “just got to win the line of scrimmage.”
Translation: The O-line needs to be better. https://t.co/pXtpnDcK7X pic.twitter.com/rwIlAOYK62
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) September 21, 2023
Having grown accustomed to running behind All-Pro linemen Tyron Smith and Zack Martin in Dallas, Elliott wants more from his new offensive line.
The group entered the season with multiple injuries and has struggled to find any consistency in September. Trent Brown, Cole Strange, and Michael Onwenu have already each missed a game.
However, blocking isn’t the only culprit for Elliott’s subdued start. He’s amassed 39 of his 42 rushing yards before contact without breaking a single tackle.
Stevenson, who averaged 2.1 yards per run after contact last season, has 10 total yards after contact on 27 handoffs.
Elliott will look to get on track when facing a New York Jets team that limited former Cowboys teammate Tony Pollard to 72 yards on 25 carries last weekend.