FOXBORO, MA - OCTOBER 09: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots hands the ball off to teammate BenJarvus Green-Ellis #42 in the first half against the New York Jets on October 9, 2011 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
In their week five 30-21 victory over the New York Jets, the New England Patriots found success on offense by engineering a very well balanced attack for the second consecutive week.
In the first three weeks of the season, the Patriots struggled to get the running game going. However, the past two weeks, the Patriots have been running the ball very effectively, thanks to the efforts of BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Stevan Ridley.
Against the Jets on Sunday, the Patriots actually ran the ball more times than they threw, with a 35-33 ratio. 27 of those running plays were courtesy of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who racked up a career high 133 yards and also had two touchdowns on top of that. This was against a defense that allowed Ray Rice to pick up only 66 yards on 25 carries.
Going forward, the Patriots' success on offense will largely be influenced by how well and how consistently they can pick up yards on the ground. If BenJarvus Green-Ellis can continue to perform the way he did on Sunday, I don't think that will be an issue.
"The Law Firm" was a pretty clear choice for this week's Samsung Game Ball of the Week.
Previous Winners:
Week 1: Tom Brady
Week 2: Tom Brady
Week 3: Wes Welker
Week 4: Wes Welker
Week 5: BenJarvus Green-Ellis
There are 15 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.