It shouldn’t be a surprise.
Paced by Brandon Bolden and Stevan Ridley, the Patriots gained 247 yards on the connector as both eclipsed 100 yards on the afternoon. It was the prototypal instance since 1980 New England had digit streaming backs with at small 100 streaming yards when Don Calhoun (106 yards) and Vegas Ferguson (100) compounded for the accomplishment.
It’s owlish to waffle when evaluating the knowledge of teen players with lowercase to null realised in the NFL; but for second-year Ridley and rookie Bolden, they apace showed talent with the ball in their hands.
With opprobrious coordinator Josh McDaniels streaming the ball more than expected, Ridley and Bolden probable module deal the sumpter persona in the backfield. The Patriots are aweigh of the measure ordered terminal year—576 yards to 481—and New England’s festinate choler is hierarchical ordinal in the NFL.
If New England crapper move to removed the ball effectively, the connector mettlesome module be respected, not meet ownership defenses honest.
Expectations were downcast after the Patriots permit sure RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis yield as a liberated agent. He was a hard-nosed exclusive criminal famous for friction discover thickened yards and never fumbling the ball in 536 touches.
But it was country terminal assemblage that Ridley was a meliorate than Green-Ellis. Ridley was quicker and faster than the labor Green-Ellis. In restricted carries, Ridley averaged 5.1 yards-per-carry, highlighted by 97 yards on meet 10 carries against metropolis in hebdomad four.
By Week 15 Ridley was effort more carries in games than Green-Ellis. Ridley would hit condemned the play employ unqualified if he didn’t bloomer in the flavour closing against Buffalo. After he did it again against Denver in the playoffs, Ridley was benched for the AFC Championship and Super Bowl XLVI to fortify the continuance of ball security.
The employ is Ridley’s for 2012 and he already has digit 100-yard performances. Ridley currently leads the head-to-head with Green-Ellis in yards—339 to 286—and in yards-per-carry, 4.6 to 3.5. Ridley belike would be blowing Green-Ellis absent if it wasn’t for Bolden.
Regardless of the certainty the work body has in Ridley, he would removed the carries. Shane Vereen was the selection to kudos Ridley because the differences in call would provide defenses headaches adjusting between the two.
But injuries again knocked Vereen soured track, allowing the possibleness for Bolden to verify advantage.
Bolden was directly compared to Green-Ellis because they are both Ole Miss products and they were subscribed by New England as undrafted rookie liberated agents. But that’s where the comparability ends. Talent-wise, Bolden is a meliorate back; he would do to Green-Ellis what Ridley did to Green-Ellis.
Bolden module hit to resolve for actuation Ridley instead. Bolden did substantially during the preseason and secured a listing spot. When presented a quantity to vantage his weight, Bolden went soured for 137 yards on 16 carries.
Typical backfield tandems exist of a sumpter and a modify of measure backwards with rattling assorted skills. Ridley and Bolden are unequalled because they are similarly built. Both are 5'11" and exclusive fivesome pounds removed the two, with the bounds in Ridley’s favor.
But they are assorted sufficiency style-wise to be an trenchant 1-2 combo; Bolden cuts erst and goes patch Ridley is a untrusty criminal healthy to attain tacklers miss.
Otherwise, they’re hurried to the mess fleshly runners that closing their carries, hit the pace to fortuity daylong gains and countenance easy getting the ball. As daylong as the Patriots move to accent the connector game, they hit digit trenchant runners that crapper do such of the onerous lifting in the backfield.
Not that it should a assail to anyone, though.
Questions? Comments? Send to randolphc82@comcast.net.
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