FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman sees the numbers: He knows the New England Patriots are slightly better against the run than they have been against the pass this season.
But Freeman's not caught up in statistics when breaking down how effective the running game might be against a given opponent.
"I feel like we can run against any defense," Freeman said. "I don't care who they are. Not trying to talk cocky, but how we prepare and how we work, we can run against any defense."
The Falcons enter Sunday night's game against the Patriots ranked 11th in the NFL at 120.6 rushing yards per game. Freeman ranks 13th in the league in rushing with 353 yards on 79 carries and has five rushing touchdowns. Tag-team partner Tevin Coleman has 213 yards on 38 carries with one rushing touchdown.
The Falcons have had much more success running left than right, maybe partly because of right tackle Ryan Schraeder missing two-plus games with a concussion and Wes Schweitzer trying to find his way as the new starting right guard. The Falcons have also run eight plays up the middle behind center Alex Mack and have averaged a solid 5.13 yards on those plays.
No one doubts how well Freeman and Coleman can run the ball, with Freeman possessing such great vision and Coleman having the explosive speed. The questions arise when the Falcons don't stick to the running game, like in last week's 20-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Freeman and Coleman combined for 82 yards on 12 carries with a Coleman touchdown in the first half. Then after halftime, when the Falcons blew a 17-0 lead, they had a combined 18 yards on six carries. Freeman had just two carries in the second half, while Coleman had four.
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he has a strong belief in the run game, even if the second-half numbers against the Dolphins didn't reflect that.
"Our belief in the run game hasn't waved at all," Sarkisian said. "We love running the ball. It's just the matter of finding that right balance.
"I think so much of last week -- not half, but a lot of our plays -- came in two-minute drives. I want to get Free and T-Cole as many carries as I can because our run game really makes everything else in our offense go. So, that's important for us moving forward."
For the season, the Falcons have 126 rushing attempts compared to 170 pass attempts for Matt Ryan. The most balance shown was during a 34-23 win over the Green Bay Packers, when Ryan attempted 28 passes and the Falcons had 27 rushing attempts. The largest disparity was last week against the Dolphins, with 35 pass plays and 19 rushes.
Freeman isn't overly concerned about what happened against the Dolphins.
"I feel like we good on the run game," Freeman said. "You just go with the game plan; stick to the game plan. When the run game comes, we have to execute and make better plays."
The Patriots, who have the league's worst pass defense in surrendering 440.7 yards per game, rank 21st against the run in yielding 115.8 rushing yards per contests.
"Well, they're a disciplined group, first of all," Sarkisian said of the Patriots. "Obviously, they're well-coached. They're a big group up front. They do a nice job with their gap integrity. It's a heck of a challenge for us, especially on the road. But again, we need to be able to run the football and to run it effectively to our strengths so that the rest of our offense can be as effective as it can be."