- The Patriots’ run defense has fueled a postseason run: New England’s 3.1 yards per carry allowed during the team’s playoff run is lower than any squad to reach a Super Bowl in the past four years. From Weeks 9-16, the unit held a 47.7 PFF run-defense grade — good enough for just 25th in the NFL.
- Christian Barmore, Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga are among those stepping up: Each has leveled up their PFF run-defense grade this postseason, including significant improvements from Barmore.
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In the midst of a sideways snowstorm in Denver on Sunday afternoon, the Patriots’ run defense was arguably the biggest factor separating the AFC’s top two seeds, who slogged it out in the elements for a measly 3.2 yards per play.
On paper, the absence of quarterback Bo Nix turned the Broncos‘ offense into a one-dimensional outfit. Then, once the adverse weather struck in the second half, rendering any semblance of a passing attack utterly useless, the Patriots could afford to anticipate a handoff on every single snap.
However, Denver’s inability to move the ball through the snow in the fourth quarter shouldn’t take away from the outstanding job done by the Patriots’ run defense up until that point.
In what will ultimately be remembered as a cinematic snow game where both offenses stalled in the adverse weather conditions, one must not forget that the Patriots were holding the Broncos’ offense below 3.5 yards per carry before a snowflake ever hit the surface at Mile High.
It’s worth noting that backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham had already gashed the Patriots through the air for just the second completion of 50-plus yards allowed by New England all season. It served as a reminder that even with Nix sidelined, the Patriots couldn’t just sell out to stop the run on every single play.
By halftime, Stidham had already dropped back to pass 26 times. It’s the second-most dropbacks the Patriots have faced in an opening half all season, beaten only by C.J. Stroud’s futile effort one week earlier, when the Patriots walked away with four first-half interceptions on 27 dropbacks.
All things considered, this should not be remembered as a game where head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr could simply ignore Denver’s aerial threat and invest all resources into stopping the ground game.
The Patriots proved they are a completely revitalized run defense from the unit that struggled so often throughout November and early December.
New England’s 3.1 yards per carry allowed during the team’s playoff run is lower than any squad to reach a Super Bowl in the past four years, and the lowest of any AFC champion since the entirely different Patriots squad of 2019.
The Patriots have yet to allow a rushing touchdown in 2026 (since Week 18), and during that span, they have surrendered a grand total of five rushing yards before contact on 93 carries. That’s 10 times lower than the NFL average — bear in mind the majority of those teams played only one game in this sample.
| Rushing Yards Allowed Before Contact | NFL Rank | |
| Weeks 9-17 | 452 | 31st |
| Week 18-Present | 5 | 4th |
This is the same unit that held a 47.7 PFF run-defense grade during a seven-game stretch from Week 9 to Week 16 — good enough for 25th in the NFL.
During that run, the Patriots allowed 100-yard outings to James Cook, Derrick Henry and Chase Brown. The Jets and Giants each registered triple digits on the ground against New England, too.
The Patriots weren’t actually missing a disproportionately large amount of tackles, nor were they getting gashed after contact.
In fact, the Patriots are missing tackles on running backs more frequently throughout the playoffs (21.5%) than they did during the second half of the regular season (17.2%).
As opposed to a big upgrade in execution at the second level, the difference in the Patriots’ run defense has come up front.
Christian Barmore’s woeful 29.7 PFF run-defense grade during the regular season ranked third worst among all interior defensive linemen to play at least 100 snaps.
He hasn’t been asked to set the world alight in January, but by simply regressing back toward the mean with a 59.7 PFF run-defense grade in the playoffs, Barmore has shored up a gaping hole.
Elsewhere, mammoth 338-pound Khyiris Tonga, who is largely responsible for one of the A-gaps, has improved his PFF run-defense grade from 54.6 in the regular season to 74.4 in the postseason.
Meanwhile, Super Bowl 59 champion Milton Williams — even though he was PFF’s highest-graded interior pass rusher from last season and arrived in New England as a pass-rushing specialist — has also proved his worth in run defense, producing a 69.9 PFF run-defense grade in the playoffs, a far cry from his 48.4 mark in the regular season and his 45.4 mark from last year’s playoff run in Philadelphia.
Could the above improvements over a relatively small sample size indicate some unsustainable play that may return to regular-season form in the Super Bowl? Perhaps. If you’re a fan of the Seattle Seahawks, you’re certainly hoping that is the case.
As strong as the Patriots’ defensive interior has looked over the team’s three playoff victories, they haven’t faced a rushing attack quite as dangerous as Kenneth Walker III and the Seahawks’ offensive line.
The Patriots had no reason to fear Stroud or Stidham through the air in their past two games. That is not the case against Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Seahawks push the ball deep more frequently than any other NFL offense. To avoid getting continuously gashed on play action, rookie safety Craig Woodson will need to be extremely careful when reading his keys.
Woodson is the Patriots’ primary safety in run support. He frequently rotates down into the box at the snap, but even when dropping back into split-safety coverages, Woodson is quick to trigger down toward the line of scrimmage when the ball is handed off.
Woodson and fellow starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins are both ranked among PFF’s 10 highest-graded safeties in run defense this season. Meanwhile, premier outside cornerback Christian Gonzalez owns a league-best 91.6 PFF run-defense grade throughout the playoffs, utilizing his abnormally dense frame for an outside cornerback and proving he is much more than just an elite coverage defender.
Sunday’s slugfest was less an indictment of Denver’s Nix-less offense and more another data point in New England’s late-season transformation up front. The Patriots imposed their will in that area long before the conditions tilted the game in their favor.
Whether that play proves sustainable against a much more complete Seahawks offense will define the final chapter of this story. The Patriots have rewritten their defensive fate, and in a sport so often decided in the trenches, that alone makes them a much more dangerous Super Bowl opponent than their midseason form ever suggested.
