I think it's fair to say:
1) Michel was a valuable member of the championship team last year
2) What is going on this year is not entirely and maybe/probably not even mostly Sony's fault, but
3) It is killing the team when he is on the field. The Chiefs have one of the worst run defenses in football and Michel had 8 yards on 5 carries. The Patriots have two good skill players, Edelman and White, so every time they take out White and put in Michel, the offense is playing with one hand tied behind its back. The power run game from last year is not happening (and Burkhead was nearly as ineffective as Michel last night) and they need to give it up and play White as much as he can stand against good teams.
I really don't know what folks expect of Sony in the running game. This is a Josh issue more than anything. Sony played 9 snaps yesterday. 9. He got 6 touches on those 9 snaps. Basically, whenever he is on the field, the defense knows he's getting the ball. He was taking handoffs yesterday and looking at a wall of defenders in front of him because they know he's getting the ball, and the offensive line sucks balls. On one of the snaps where he didn't get a touch, he whiffed on a pass rusher, and Brady either got sacked or had to throw it away, and I'm pretty sure we never saw him again.
Someone mentioned Dalvin Cook upthread. Dalvin Cook is running behind a very good offensive line, an all world fullback in CJ Ham, he's a pass catching threat and the Vikes have receivers all over the field that can make plays. The loss of Develin killed this team's running game. I said it when it happened. Develin could have made up for some of the losses of Gronk and Andrews, but losing all 3 of them is just not something that a back like Sony can overcome (and I doubt most anyone else would be having success running on this team right now).
Besides the refs, the Goats yesterday were the offensive line, in every phase. Then the receivers, in every phase. Both units were an abomination. I was there, and I watched Brady have guys in his face on almost every play, but he can't get it out quick because nobody can get open off the LOS and when he does fit it in somewhere, they fucking drop it anyway.
Just brutal. The fact they still had a chance to win, despite the refs robbing them at every opportunity, was a testament to the team and will be well served come January. They don't quit. Forget the calls and the points that came off the board, the blown calls on the Kelce fumble and the non-DPI on Dorsett probably took 5-6 minutes off the clock, which was a lot of time the Pats could have used at the end of the game with all of the momentum in their favor. It was a disgrace.