FOXBOROUGH - The NFL is a passing league. The run game, meanwhile, has largely become an afterthought.

At least, in recent years, that’s been one of the primary storylines when talking about the evolution of modern offenses.

If you’re the Patriots, though, it would be wise to ignore the noise, just like the Philadelphia Eagles did en route to winning a Super Bowl last year.

The Patriots might not have Saquon Barkley, but they have enough firepower with Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and TreVeyon Henderson in their running back stable.

They still need to run. More to the point, they need an effective run game to help Drake Maye, and help unleash his talent.

That’s how it worked for the Patriots in Miami en route to a 33-27 win. Once the run game got untracked, Maye, in turn,

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