For one game BenJarvus Green-Ellis turned the pass-happy New England Patriots into a power running team, and the result was a winning one.
“The Law Firm” had a career-high 136 rushing yards to go with two touchdowns en route to a 30-21 victory over the rival New York Jets.
It was only the fourth time he had eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in his career, but it came at a good time. He became the fourth running back to rush for over 100 yards against a Rex Ryan-led Jets defense.
The attack for New England was a more balanced one than usual, throwing 33 passes and running the ball 35 times, and they had only one passing touchdown compared to both of Green’s rushing ones. Green-Ellis had 27 carries and averaged five yards a carry. He also had one catch for 13 yards, bowling over a couple Jets defenders in the process.
The Patriots held the ball on offense for 33:55, over seven minutes longer than the Jets. Green-Ellis pounded the ball up the middle effectively and wore out the Jets defense, which looked tired and sluggish as the game went on.
On the Patriots' last drive they ran 13 plays for 69 yards and took up 6:12. Of those 13 plays 11 were running plays with the ball going to Green-Ellis 10 times for 59 yards. The drive ended in a field goal, which put the Patriots up by two scores and the game just out of reach for the Jets.
With the Patriots never trailing it was easy to hand the ball off and work to kill the clock. But Green-Ellis made sure to put his mark on the game. The dreadlocked back had given way to rookie Stevan Ridley the past two weeks, with the new guy leading the team in rushing yards both games. But today Green-Ellis not only was the leading rusher, he was the team leader.
Photo Credits.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis: AP Photo/Elise Amendola
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