The Patriots rushing attack and run defense disappoint Jerod Mayo in loss to the Titans

NASHVILLE – We learned last month that the Patriots have historically believed that strong teams can run the ball, stop the run and defend kicks.

The Patriots were 0-3 in the toughness department two weeks ago in London, prompting head coach Jerod Mayo to describe them as “soft.” Mayo tried to avoid the S-word after Sunday's 20-17 overtime loss to the Titans, but his team went just 1 of 3 against one of the NFL's worst teams.

The Patriots ran the ball 20 times for 110 yards with a touchdown, but 95 of those yards came on eight scrambles by Drake Maye. So on designed runs, the Patriots gained just 15 yards on 12 carries.

“You have to be able to play football. That was obviously disappointing,” said Mayo. “I think Drake was probably our best runner today. You never really want your quarterback to be your leading rusher. And that in all facets. We have to be able to push people off the line. I think their defensive line did a good job. They were difficult to control inside, especially 98 (Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons). We knew that coming into the game. Every team we play is going to have either good edge rushers or good interior rushers. We just have to do a better job of getting these guys off the ball.”

Mayo said that stopping the run and running the ball “starts with your attitude and your mentality.”

The Patriots' defense allowed the Titans to rush 39 times for 167 yards. Tony Pollard started as a running back and managed 128 yards on 28 carries. Backup Julius Chestnut carried the ball five times for 22 yards.

“Defensively, another leaky run defense,” Mayo said. “There were times when it went back to the basics. We spend a lot of time talking about the X's and O's, but I thought the tackling still needed improvement. That’s part of it.”

Punter Bryce Baringer wasn't very good on Sunday, hitting two punts, but punt returner Marcus Jones had 69 yards on two returns. And the Patriots' special teams allowed just 7 punt return yards and 23.5 yards per kick return.

“Look, we went into the game also saying that special teams were going to make a play, that they had to make plays, and we had the big returns from Marcus and the guys out there blocking for them,” Mayo said. “It’s a shame we missed that.”

Mayo described the interior of the Patriots' offensive line as “soft,” leading to his decision to bench rookie right guard Layden Robinson, move Mike Onwenu from right tackle to right guard and Demontrey Jacobs off the bench at right tackle pick up.

“We felt like we had to take on one of their best players,” Mayo said of Onwenu facing Simmons. “If you watch the film, you'll notice again that the inside of the bag was soft at times. We thought it would be best for the team to use our best player.”

The Titans got the ball first in overtime, gained 72 yards with 13 players and ended the game with a field goal. Eight of those plays were runs, and the Titans gained 41 yards on the ground.

“There were a lot of plays in the game that could have been better, but still getting them to three points gave our offense a chance, and that's the goal,” defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said.

Quarterback Drake Maye threw a deep interception into double coverage on the offense's drive three plays into overtime.

“I feel like from the outside it all looks easy and you feel like you could say what we should have done, but there are a million pieces moving – I'm not making excuses or anything like that – it's more like We were just like, 'I have to slow the game down,'” defensive end Keion White said of the team's problems running the ball. “And I feel like a lot of us just try to do it all, including me. And we just have to do our job.”

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson said that was above his salary when asked what caused the Patriots' problems running the ball.

Left tackle Vederian Lowe and center Ben Brown both took responsibility for the problems at the top. Neither player felt like they played their best game against the Titans.

Related Posts

SMU Mustangs vs. Stanford Cardinal Prediction, Odds and Tips

Watch Utah vs TCU game today: channel, time, streaming information

Video shows moments before officer fatally shoots woman with knife – NBC4 Washington

Leave a Reply Cancel reply