New England Patriots team grades vs Miami Dolphins Week 14
. . RUSHING DEFENSE GRADE. F.
The Patriots rushing offense was very poor against the Dolphins on Monday Night. Their defense against the Dolphins rushing game was almost as poor.
The Dolphins are without many options at running back. Kenyan Drake was an every down player with Senorise Perry as his backup. Perry was rarely on the field, coming in only when Drake got nicked up. He didn’t record a touch as the Dolphins backfield was dominated by Drake, who dominated
Drake received 25 carries and tore the Patriots up. He gained 114 yards on the ground, a new career-high. He showed excellent burst coming out of the backfield and had a number of highlight-worthy runs.
His spin move to miss Patrick Chung in the backfield will be on highlight reels all weeks. He carried piles multiple times, showing off his power when he wasn’t making Patriots defenders miss.
This performance was surprising, to say the least. In the first matchup, Drake managed only 20 yards on nine carries. Damien Williams was actually the leading rusher, gaining 48 yards on eight carries. That lack of production didn’t happen again as Drake had his way with the Patriots rushing defense.
Being shorthanded on defense didn’t help, but the Patriots just didn’t have it and Drake brought his A game. If the Patriots perform like this next week against Le’Veon Bell, they will be run off the field.