New England Patriots 4 Downs Review: Week 6 vs New York Giants

2nd Down: Is Sony Michel finally back?

The running game this season has not been as strong as it was last year. The focus of the rush attack was supposed to be Sony Michel, who had a successful rookie season despite a number of injuries he had to overcome. It had been a struggle to get Michel going until last week, when he broke out for 90+ yards a touchdown against the Washington Redskins.

Things were looking up for Michel coming into this game, and he finished with 86 yards on 22 carries, but he was still very inconsistent throughout the game. In fact, he wasn’t in on the series down on the goal line that Brandon Bolden scored on. Also, on the final touchdown that Tom Brady ended up scoring on with a quarterback sneak, he didn’t get the ball again.

Bill Belichick – in typical Bill Belichick fashion – had a somewhat long-winded and rather nebulous explanation when asked after the game to evaluate the run game’s performance on the night. Here’s what he said, again via the team’s official website:

"“Sometimes you run runs and you don’t gain anything, but when you look at the play you feel like you’re close. If we could’ve just done this a little better or done that a little better, we would’ve had a solid play. I think as long as you feel like that you’re willing to stick with it. Like I said, every play doesn’t have to go for 10 or 15 yards. You can feel good about the running game sometimes even if you don’t have a lot of production on it. If you feel like you’ve just got to do a couple of things, do one thing maybe a little bit better on that play or you may have ran it and gotten a bad look and the next time if you get the right look or a better look than what you’re anticipating, then it might be better.”"

So there you have it. Sounds like the jury is still out on this “Down” for the time being.