FOXBOROUGH - When he woke up yesterday and saw the snow that had accumulated during an overnight Nor'easter, Laurence Maroney pretty much knew it meant one thing: more carries against the Jets.
"We knew it was going to be bad weather, so we knew that the running game was going to have to step up," said Maroney. "I talked to all the running backs like it was going to be our day; this was the day we were going to have to step up and play hard."
The second-year running back out of Minnesota was the featured back in the 20-10 victory, carrying a career-high 26 times for 104 yards and a 1-yard TD plunge that capitalized on Kelley Washington's blocked punt and led to a 17-7 halftime lead.
"It was a big game for him," Tom Brady said of Maroney. "I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line. When you have elements like this you want to play great defense and run the ball and I thought we played great defense today and we ran the ball well.
"That's what we're going to need the rest of the season," Brady added. "Hopefully Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn't had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today."
Despite being slowed by a groin injury that left him inactive for three consecutive October games, Maroney yesterday topped the 100-yard mark for the second time this season and third of his career. His carries were the most he's had since he toted it 20 times (for 72 yards) in the season-opening 38-14 triumph over the Jets in East Rutherford, N.J.
"In the month of December, it comes down to smashmouth football," said linebacker Junior Seau. "It isn't a chess match. You know you're going to run and they know you're going to run."
And so yesterday's contest between white-hot AFC East rivals became a mano-a-mano slugfest in the trenches that was dictated, to a large extent, by the elements.
"Yeah, but you never know," said guard Logan Mankins. "If it was snowing, we probably would've thrown it more than we ran it, but it was raining so we ran it more than we threw."
The pass-happy Patriots, as a result, had 35 rushing and 28 passing plays and gained almost as many yards rushing (131) as they did passing (140). It marked the first time New England's league-leading passing offense failed to produce a touchdown, instead allowing the defense (Eugene Wilson's 5-yard interception return), special teams (Stephen Gostkowski field goals of 26 and 34 yards), and the rushing game to produce the points.
"It really wasn't that bad as everybody thought it was going to be," Maroney said of the elements. "I thought it was going to be like a snowstorm. I'd never played in snow, but I played in the rain, so it wasn't that bad. I thought it was going be a lot worse."
Despite some early stutter steps, the repetitions gave Maroney a greater sense of rhythm in the running scheme.
"Most definitely," he said. "You get a feel for the game and you get a feel for how a defense is going to play you and whether you can make a person miss or where the hole might be. Running the ball a lot today gave me a chance to know where things were going to be before they happened."
While it wasn't quite the white-out conditions the Bills and Browns faced in Cleveland, the wintry mix of rain and sleet made for some slippery conditions that made it difficult for the Jets' defense to tackle Maroney.
"Coming into the game, we knew that when we ran the ball for the first two quarters it was going to be really difficult," said Maroney. "We weren't going to break one, and we were going to have to stick with it and pound for 2 [yards] and pound for 3 and eventually the defense was going to get tired and the 3-yarders were going to turn into 4 and 5.
"So you just basically ran downhill because you couldn't make too many cuts on this field in the rain like that," he added. "So you just had to run downhill and make 'em tackle you."
Given the conditions, Maroney knew he couldn't act like each carry was an audition for "Dancing with the Stars."
No Cha-Cha Slides for him. He knew he had a job to do and it was to take the ball, find the hole, and pound it in there.
"I've always been patient and I'm always going to wait my turn," Maroney said, when asked how it felt to have the ball put in his hands in a scheme that emphasized the run more than the pass. "Like I said earlier in the season, I'm going to be patient because sooner or later they're going to need the running game and they're going to call my number. I just said I was going to be ready whenever they called my number.
"Today, they called my number and we ran the ball and I knew I had to be effective in the running game."
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.
