FOXBORO, Mass. — When quarterback Tom Brady racks up 940 passing yards in two games, the smaller portions that come from the running game might seem a whole lot less exciting.
Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who finished the game with 70 rushing yards, had 33 yards on the Patriots' game-sealing drive Sunday against the Chargers, and most of them weren't very flashy. Yet, he did enough to get the Pats down the field, and he punched in the final score of New England's 35-21 victory, following blocks from Nate Solder, Matt Light and Rob Gronkowski to hit the end zone from 16 yards away.
"There's not a fat guy alive that doesn't like to run the ball well," Light said. "I wouldn't say that we ran it well, but we ran it well enough. When Benny gets rolling out of the backfield, he always gets positive yardage for us. The rest of those guys have been working really hard all through camp. Look, we have to be able to have that as part of our offense, and I think that was pivotal tonight."
Prior to the touchdown, Green-Ellis had five carries on the drive for 17 yards, and he also had two tough yards on third-and-1. It helped the Patriots erase three minutes and 46 seconds.
Additionally, the Pats used Solder as a sixth offensive lineman six times on nine plays in that final drive. They ran it with Green-Ellis on five of those plays. The one time they didn't, Brady sold a play-action and hit Rob Gronkowski for 29 yards. Again, it was a byproduct of the running game.
"For an offensive lineman, that's a dream come true to be able to just run it out, to be able to do what you need to do physically, and have great backs," right guard Brian Waters said. "We have great backs and guys who have a great understanding of the system and can see, vision, do the things you need to do to make sure you get first downs. That's exactly the way you want to do it."
