The 2025 season is evolving, and so is the New England Patriots' offensive line. To date, their pass-blocking has been above expectations, except for a plethora of sacks allowed, but their run-blocking has lagged significantly. They're not getting the run game going, and it's on Head Coach Mike Vrabel and his offensive staff to get that straightened out.
The team eked out a tight win, 25-19, against the Saints, but the running game left a lot to be desired. When you have a young passing quarterback like Drake Maye, who's threatening to take the top off the NFL, the run game can tend to get overlooked.
Regardless, Vrabel and the offensive coaches better get that aspect of the offense untracked if they hope to get to the playoffs and maybe more. The stats tell the story, and their performance against the Saints was atrocious. The numbers tell a lot of the story, but perhaps not all of it.
Drake Maye was the Patriots' leading rusher against New Orleans
When your quarterback is your leading rusher in the NFL, except perhaps when you have a Lamar Jackson at the helm, or your guy rushes for maybe 100 yards, you probably have a problem. That was the case for the Patriots against the Saints. Drake Maye led the team in rushing, and the problem was the number of yards he led with.
Maye took the honors with a measly 28 yards rushing. For a quarterback to have that many yards rushing is fine. Yet, when he eclipses your top two running backs in so doing, it's not a great scenario. But that's exactly what Maye did in the Saints' game.
Maye's total was followed by rookie TreVeyon Henderson with 27 yards on nine carries (a three-yard average) and 18 yards on 13 carries (a 1.4-yard average) by Rhamondre Stevenson. Neither is what's expected, but Stevenson's average, coupled with his propensity to fumble, should earn him a trip out of town at the trade deadline.
But complicit in all this are two things: the offensive line play and the play-calling.
The Patriots have to get the run game straightened out or else
When your running game logs 73 yards in any game, consider yourself fortunate to get a win. Only the brilliance of second-year quarterback Drake Maye has allowed the Patriots to get to a 4-2 record thus far. His offensive line's performance has been mixed; they have solid pass-blocking, but they have yet to provide what's needed in the run game.
Having two rookies on the left side of the line is an issue. Regardless, the Patriots should put the fate of the run game firmly behind left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson. Campbell is a road-grading run blocker, and ultimately, he will plow the road for the Patriots' running backs, preferably led by Henderson. That's the path the Patriots should take.
Additionally, the offensive play-calling remains amateurish. The Patriots' formations telegraph their runs as clearly as though they were broadcast on the Jumbotron. Two tight ends, a single back in the backfield, and, voila, they run. And every opponent is savvy to that. If it doesn't change, expect the same tepid results in the run game.
Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels also continues to run a vanilla offense. It neither deliberately takes advantage of the running ability of its dual-threat quarterback, Maye, by programming a couple of runs per game, nor does it create deception to give the backs a chance to find daylight.
The Patriots' offensive line has to up their run-blocking game to take full advantage of Drake Maye's brilliant pinpoint passing. It's up to Vrabel to initiate the improvements, including in the play-calling, that will take his team to a higher level. The Patriots are heading for a playoff berth. But if Vrabel can get his running game going, they may be on their way to far more than that.