On Sunday, the New England Patriots lost running back Dion Lewis for the season with a torn ACL, a seemingly massive blow to the best offense in football. Lewis darted his way to 622 yards from scrimmage this year with his elusive running style and quick moves in space that captivated all of New England. However, his success is more a credit to head coach Bill Belichick’s offensive system than it is to Lewis’ talent.
Although an unpopular view in New England right now, fans will once again realize the genius that is Belichick. Yes, Lewis was an extremely productive player for the Patriots this season, but the Pats made Lewis great, and not the other way around.
This week, New England fans continue to treat Lewis’ ACL injury like Tom Brady’s season-ending knee injury in 2008.
It is Dion frickin’ Lewis.
This is the same guy Pats fans had never heard of in August. Even beat reporters and local broadcasters this summer thought Lewis might be cut or assigned to the practice squad. Lewis made the roster over the projected pass-catching running back, Travaris Cadet. However, it came as a bit of a surprise at the time, and rightfully so.
Between entering the NFL in 2011 and joining the Pats this year, Lewis had a whopping three career receptions while averaging nine carries per season. The guy had sucked before this season and there is no way around that.
However, those same writers and broadcasters are the same guys saying how Lewis’ absence will be a huge blow to the offense and will be extremely difficult to replace. He has had one good season since entering the NFL five years ago, and it was under the Belichick’s tutelage. Coincidence? I think not.
I am in no way denying that Lewis’ contributions to the team have been extremely impressive and valuable, but Belichick’s system revolves around the dispensability of the pass-catching running backs. This year, Dion Lewis was added to the list of recent Patriot running backs who have benefitted from the dink-and-dump passing offense. He joins Danny Woodhead, Shane Vereen and Kevin Faulk as a top-five pass-catching running back for the Patriots in the Brady-Belichick era.
With Brady’s proven chemistry with Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, which draws countless defenders every play, there is no reason that Lewis’ departure will drastically change the effectiveness of the third-down running back.
Over the last few years, Belichick and Brady have perfected the short pass game, dinking and dumping it to different running backs, year after year. The offense relies on short timing routes that exploit mismatches in open parts of field. Game after game, Lewis is matched up one-on-one in space with slow linebackers and poor tackling cornerbacks. The next-man-up mentality in Foxborough will be in full effect as James White and Brandon Bolden will serve as the pass-catching backs behind hard-running LeGarrette Blount.
Patriot fans don’t just love how good Brady, Gronk and Edelman are on the field, but they obsess over their personalities and off-field routines. Lewis was loved this season solely for his surprising production, not for who he was as a person away from the game. He is far from the heart and soul of this team, but for whatever reason he is being treated like a proven veteran.
Most teams that use their running back in the passing game also heavily utilize him in the running game. These guys are normally the best players in the league. For example, in terms of receptions and receiving yards in 2014, Le’Veon Bell, Eddie Lacy, Matt Forte and DeMarco Murray were four of the top five receiving backs last season. Also sneaking into the top five was Patriot pass-catcher Shane Vereen.
Through nine weeks of the 2015 season, Dion Lewis was a top-five pass-catching running back. Belichick is credited for a lot of things in New England, and dominant third-down running backs needs to be added to the list.
With Lewis’ injury, Belichick is not just proposed with a challenge, but also an opportunity to showcase his rare ability of taking unproven and unwanted players and turn them into New England superstars.
The question isn’t will there be another shifty running back again this season, but rather who will be the pass-catching back that rises to the national spotlight and starts in fantasy leagues around the country. Belichick has a history of picking players up on waivers after the deadline, and I could see the Patriots looking out of the organization at either Travaris Cadet or Montee Ball as players that could serve as third-down backs. Both players have had far more success in their careers leading up to this season.
In Week 10 expect White and Bolden to split time as the change-of-pace running back.
In Belichick’s tenure, there has always been an effective pass-catching running back on the roster and Lewis’ absence will not change that. You heard it here first: I loved Lewis’ production this season just as much as the next guy, but Lewis was a benefactor of a bulletproof offense in New England.
