Patriots Gameday: Can the real Rhamondre Stevenson please step up?

If it wasn’t for Mac Jones and the rest of the New England Patriots stinking up the joint, more criticism would be turned towards the slow start of running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

Like Jones’ struggles, the offensive line can be blamed for the lack of production from Stevenson so far this season, but the third-year Patriots running back was praised for his ability to break tackles and turn nothing into something.  He hasn’t been doing that this season…so far.

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson has yet to make an impact

In fact, coming off a career year in his second season in the NFL, Stevenson has just 188 total yards on the ground on just 2.8 yards per carry, ouch!

Again, most of that can be due to inconsistency along the offensive line and the fact the team is commonly playing catchup in games.  But, for the fate of the offense to change, the Patriots need their running back duo of Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott to be a force.  Whether it’s on the ground or catching the ball out of the backfield, the offense needs Stevenson to get going and he knows it.  He also knows he must get back to getting those tough yards as he did in the team’s only win this season against the New York Jets.

“I think we played well, we played hard,” Stevenson said following the Week 3 win.  “It wasn’t much yards there, but it was tough yards, and I appreciate those yards – I love those yards.

“I felt like I had a pretty good game.  I think I need to get back to making people miss and breaking more tackles.”

Stevenson didn’t have the opportunity to really do that in losses against the Cowboys and Saints.  The team fell behind by a huge margin too early, but perhaps his fortunes will change this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.  Although last year’s “lateral” game was a game Stevenson and Patriots Nation would like to forget, it was one of Stevenson’s breakout performances in 2022.

The Vegas native rushed for 172 yards on just 19 carries.  He had a key go-ahead touchdown in the game before things went south for the Patriots.  This could be a get-right game for Stevenson who will be looking to find that swag again on the ground.  The Patriots need him to because the Stevenson we’ve seen so far is not the Stevenson everyone knows he can be.

To get a win on Sunday against a team giving up 129.4 rushing yards per game, the New England Patriots will need Rhamondre Stevenson to be the best player on the field.  Not only to take pressure off Mac Jones, but to keep the Raiders offense off the field.

Including, the real Stevenson is due to make an appearance.  Bet on that happening in Vegas.

It’s game day.