The inability to run out the clock almost cost them in week one. Burkhead tripping over his own blocker was all I needed to see to know that he's not the guy I want running to churn out first downs, and keep the clock moving to slam home a win in the fourth quarter. Shit, if James Develin doesn't catch a 10 yarder on the first series, and we go 3 and out, Houston gets the ball with 1:40 left and a timeout in their pocket.I don’t think the Patriots of the last many years have ever been built in such a way that running back depth could even be a fatal flaw. There are guys to be found out there and if the line blocks well it shouldn’t really matter who the back is as long as he holds on to the ball and can pick up his blocks.
Of course, that is why I hated the Michel pick but I digress.
Fortunately, Ryan Allen put the punt on the 1 yard line, and that was that, but this is what I'm talking about. The Pats have the ball with 3 minutes left, a 2 point lead, and the opponent has a couple timeouts. If we make 2-3 first downs, the game is over, if you keep the clock moving. I just don't see a way this team can do that without just having Tom step back and throw it (which unfortunately, isn't a really bad fallback option), and of course, with that approach, you run the risk of throwing incomplete passes and stopping the clock for the opponent. Clock killin Corey Dillon ain't walking through that door, but I think folks are going to very much not enjoy sweating out the fourth quarter of close games this season. It's been my concern since the day they cut Dion, it came around in week one, and I see it continuing throughout the season. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope even if I'm right, Tom figures out a way to keep the chains moving, but this is the part of the "running game" that worries me the most. Frankly, I don't care if they run the ball at all in the first three quarters. Let Tom go back and sling it all over the field, as far as I'm concerned, but when you need to keep the ball out of your opponents hands, and you need to keep the clock going, you need to run the ball, and that's something they've generally always been able to do when they had to do it. I don't know how they do it with this team, even if they get some of them healthy.