Mike Vrabel’s Patriots have found a way to make life miserable for mobile quarterbacks, and the numbers back it up.
That showed up again in a season that’s still only eight weeks old. Buffalo’s Josh Allen and the Rams’ Matthew Stafford delivered one of the NFL’s showcase games of 2026, with the Bills pulling out a 37-34 overtime win at SoFi Stadium.
Allen didn’t need a big passing volume to tilt the game; Buffalo leaned hard on his legs, and he finished with 10 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown while the Bills as a team piled up 234 rushing yards. Los Angeles had no real answer once the play broke down.
That kind of damage is usually what elite dual-threat quarterbacks bring to the table. But New England has been the rare team that has taken away that escape hatch.
The Patriots have already seen two of the league’s top three rushing quarterbacks this season, and both times they shut the door. Allen managed just 4 net rushing yards on five attempts in Week 4.
On Sunday, Malik Willis was held to one official rush attempt for 2 yards. New England won both road games in tight, physical division battles.
Through eight games, the Patriots have allowed quarterbacks to run for only 53 net yards and one touchdown on 18 attempts. That works out to 2.9 yards per carry, which is a nasty number for any offense trying to create easy yards with the quarterback.
The group at the top of the rushing-QB leaderboard through eight weeks includes Allen, Jayden Daniels, Malik Willis, Deshaun Watson, and Drake Maye, and New England has already faced Allen and Willis. So far, Vrabel’s defense has made those matchups look a lot less dangerous than they usually do.
A big part of that has been the Patriots’ willingness to shift gears. They’ve leaned heavily on man coverage early in the season, which fits with corners like Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. But against quarterbacks who can hurt you with their legs - Allen, Willis, and to some extent Trevor Lawrence and Caleb Williams - New England has moved toward zone.
That approach showed up in a big way against Miami, where Patriots reporter Evan Lazar noted that New England used a season-high 73% zone coverage rate. Lazar wrote: “It wasn't perfect, but one stat stood out,” and added, “Dolphins QB Malik Willis had zero scrambles vs. the Pats defense.”
The zone looks haven’t been clean every week. The Jaguars and Bears found ways to beat them.
But even in those losses, the Patriots have mostly kept quarterbacks from doing damage on the ground. Lawrence is the only quarterback to clear 25 rushing yards against New England this season.
The logic is easy to see. In that Bills-Rams game, Allen kept finding room once defenders turned their backs to carry receivers in coverage.
Zone can cut off some of those opportunities, and Vrabel’s defense has the speed to make it work. Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane have been especially active on the second level, flying sideline to sideline and closing running lanes fast.
They’re physical, and quarterbacks are feeling that.
There’s a tradeoff, of course. Elliss and Spillane aren’t ideal coverage linebackers, and Gonzalez’s best traits are muted when the Patriots lean more heavily on zone. Still, the bigger picture is clear: this defense is doing a better job than most at keeping quarterbacks trapped in the pocket and forcing them to win from the passing game alone.
That matters with more dangerous rushing threats still on the schedule, including Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, and rematches with Allen and Willis. If the Patriots keep handling mobile quarterbacks this way, it could be one of the biggest edges they carry into the second half of the season.
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