FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots have always insisted it’s not about the player, but the team. Individual statistics don’t matter, wins do.
But it certainly seemed they were doing everything they could Sunday to get running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis to the 1,000-yard mark.
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Green-Ellis was an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi in 2008 who was fourth on the team’s depth chart at the start of training camp. On Sunday, he became the team’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Corey Dillon in 2004 when he gained 80 rushing yards in the Patriots’ 38-7 waltz over the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.
Green-Ellis carried the ball eight times on his final drive of the season, getting 10 yards on his last carry — a fourth-and-16 from the Dolphins 19 on the second play of the fourth quarter — to go over 1,000. He finished the season with 1,008 yards.
“That’s really a great accomplishment,” said quarterback Tom Brady. “I think the durability of that running back position, and to rush the way that our offense has been rushing lately, it’s been great.
“It’s definitely been a huge threat. Benny should be pretty proud. It’s pretty cool for him.”
Green-Ellis also scored 13 touchdowns, second-best in team history (behind Curtis Martin, who scored 14 twice), and went the entire season without losing a fumble, joining Baltimore’s Ray Rice as the only back to have at least 175 carries without a fumble.
Typically, the soft-spoken Green-Ellis took the accomplishment in stride.
“It’s not an individual accomplishment,” he said. “For one person to say that they got 1,000 yards by themselves, they would be lying to you. Everyone comes to practice and works hard in practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and, you know, it’s paying off for us.”
He credited the offensive line and the tight ends for blocking, the coaches for believing in him and pushing him hard in practice, especially running backs coach Ivan Fears.
“He never lets us slide by with anything, no matter what it is,” said Green-Ellis. “He is always tough on us. I think that’s the kind of coach that you need.”
But others know what Green-Ellis brings to this team.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to come in with Benny and have seen how far he’s grown as a player,” said linebacker Jerod Mayo. “He’s run the ball hard and is very efficient.”
And, yeah, said Green-Ellis, it did feel good.
“But it also feels better when you win,” he said. “I was pretty happy today that we were able to achieve a few things and also come out on top with a W.”
FORMER PATRIOT Joe Andruzzi, a key figure on the offensive line on the team’s three Super Bowl champions, spoke during a halftime ceremony as the Patriots concluded their season-long “Kick Cancer” initiative.
Andruzzi, who played five season for the Patriots, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Burkitt lymphoma on May 30, 2007, while he was with the Cleveland Browns. He returned to New England for treatment and received his last treatment on Aug. 6, 2007. The cancer has been in remission since.
Andruzzi asked the fans to recognize not only cancer surivivors, but caregivers as well. He was joined on field by several cancer survivors. He also urged fans to get annual checkups.
VINCE WILFORK wore a yellow (what else?) SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt to his post-game press conference.
Asked why, he said, “I’m a SpongeBob fan. I got kids at home. If it’s not sports, I’m looking at cartoons and the majority of the time it’s SpongeBob on TV.”
JEROD MAYO, asked what was most gratifying about finishing 14-2: “The bye week.”
The Patriots won’t play again until Sunday, Jan. 16, at 4:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium.
DANNY WOODHEAD suffered what the Patriots called a “head injury” with 8:51 left in the first quarter and did not return. Woodhead, who had a 19-yard run in the first quarter, lost a fumble on the play, in which he ran up the middle.
He finished with the best yards-per-carry average in team history: 5.68.
It was New England’s first turnover since Nov. 7, when the Patriots lost 34-14 to Cleveland. That last turnover was also a fumble, by tight end Rob Gronkowski as he fought for yardage trying to rally the Patriots. Gronkowski lost the ball at the Cleveland 2-yard line.
THIS AND that, some of the record notes on the Patriots season:
• Bill Belichick became the first head coach in NFL history to win 14 regular-season games in four different seasons.
• The Patriots set an NFL record with just 10 turnovers (five fumbles, five interceptions) in a season. The former team record was 15 (2007) while the former NFL record was 12 (Kansas City in the strike-shortened 1982 season).
• The Patriots finished 8-0 at home for the second consecutive season. They have finished perfect at home five times: 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
• Brady extended his NFL record by throwing at least two touchdowns with no interceptions in nine consecutive games.
• Brady also became only the sixth quarterback in NFL history to throw at least one touchdown pass in all 16 regular-season games. Miami’s Dan Marino did it twice (1984 and 1986). The others were Seattle’s Dave Krieg (1984), St. Louis’ Kurt Warner (1999), Green Bay’s Brett Favre (2003) and Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper (2004).
• The Patriots set a team record with a plus-28 turnover ratio, which was also best in the NFL.
Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
mlowe@pressherald.com
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