Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson isn't too interested in running around people.
He wants to run through them.
Stevenson displayed that desire Sunday, as he forced a pretty significant change in New England's shocking victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.
"Rhamondre said, 'I don't want to run outside zone anymore. I want to run downhill,'" Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett revealed following the game, per team-provided video. "That's what we did."
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The Patriots were happy to make that change for Stevenson, applying some gap-heavy runs that allowed them to ice the game late in the fourth quarter. New England ultimately would finish with 170 rushing yards on the afternoon, with the freshly-paid rusher accounting for 120 of his own -- including a four-yard touchdown tote.
"It was just a compliment to the (offensive) lineman," Stevenson said. "They rolled those guys off the ball in duo, so I didn't think we needed to get to outside zone. I voiced my opinion on that, I just told (offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt) that I wanted to run downhill. He blessed me and we did just that."
The Patriots spent the majority of the offseason talking about how they intended on being a run-first team with Stevenson getting votes of confidence from all over the organization. There was no bigger vote of confidence than that from Van Pelt on Sunday, however, as he allowed the 25-year-old to dictate his own path -- which resulted in a victory that very few saw coming.
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"We said before the game, 'There's going to be a certain moment in the game where we're going to overpower them. We're going to out-condition them and do all of the little things right because of all the work that we put in,'" Brissett said. "I think that was on display, because everyone in the stands knew we were going to run the ball to end the game, and we still got first down after first down."
Featured image via Albert Cesare/Imagn Images
