Ezekiel Elliott Sees Big Potential In This Patriots Offensive Wrinkle

FOXBORO, Mass. — We expected to see Rhamondre Stevenson or Ezekiel Elliott on the field for the vast majority of the Patriots’ offensive snaps in Week 1.

We didn’t anticipate them being on the field together as often as they were in Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

New England ran a total of 10 plays with both of their top running backs in the game — seven passes and three runs — deploying Stevenson and Elliott in multiple different alignments.

On some of those plays, they flanked quarterback Mac Jones in the shotgun. On others, they initially aligned next to Jones, only for one to peel off and motion toward the sideline before the snap.

Another look had Stevenson in the backfield and Elliott split wide. Another still aligned them in an old-school I-formation, with Elliott playing the fullback role and converting a short-yardage third down.

Overall, the Patriots had limited success out of those two-running back formations, averaging just 3.1 yards per play and gaining two first downs, per NFL GSIS. But Elliott likes the unpredictability of that package and believes it’ll serve the team well moving forward.

“I think it’s tough on the defense when we’re on the field together,” the former Dallas Cowboys star said Thursday. “They don’t know what’s going to happen. One of us could be blocking, one of us could be releasing for a route, one of us could be running.

“There’s so many different things we could do when we’re on the field together. It causes a little bit of headache for the defense.”

The Patriots occasionally trotted out their two-RB package (known as “pony”) in the past with players like James White, Rex Burkhead and Dion Lewis. But this new iteration, with two bigger-bodied backs who also can play in the passing game, gives it a different flavor.

Elliott, who signed with New England in mid-August, said the Patriots have a few nicknames for this grouping, but he didn’t want to reveal them.

“We’ve got a couple different names for it,” he said. “… I don’t know if I’m at liberty to give that information.”

The Patriots struggled to run the ball last week behind an injury-depleted offensive line. Elliott had one 11-yard rush — with quarterback Mac Jones first faking a handoff to Stevenson before flipping a pitch to his backfield mate — but he and Stevenson combined to average just 2.8 yards per carry on 19 attempts. Third-stringer Ty Montgomery added one carry for 7 yards.

Stevenson did find success in the passing game, catching all six of his targets for 64 yards. Elliott caught five of seven targets but totaled just 14 yards and lost a fumble. Montgomery had two catches on three targets for 9 yards.

New England will hope for a stronger ground-game performance this Sunday when it hosts a Miami Dolphins team that surrendered an NFL-worst 233 rushing yards in Week 1.