It’s been so long since the New England Patriots have had a 1,000-yard season from one of their running backs, you almost forgot it could happen in the Pats' “dreadlocked running back era”. The Patriots’ haven’t had a 1,000-yard season out of a running back since Corey Dillon in 2004.
But it is now happening in the Pats' dreadlocked running back era. The Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian digs through the numbers and reports that quadruple-named third-year vet BenJarvus Green-Ellis is quietly creeping up on the mark. Green-Ellis currently has 824 yards on the season, with two games to go.
This is the same BenJarvus Green-Ellis who totaled only 114 yards in 12 games last season, and spent the last two seasons at the fifth -- fifth! -- running back on the depth chart.
Green-Ellis is now 176 yards away from the thousand mark, with games remaining against the league’s worst rushing defense (at Buffalo this Sunday) and the league sixth-best rushing defense (at home vs. Miami on Jan 2).
In his previous outings against Buffalo and Miami, Green-Ellis had 98 and 76 yards, respectively. Should he match those exact totals, he’d finish with 998 on the season.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer whose phone calls to Geno Auriemma keep going to voice mail for some reason.
