Patton himself might dispute that. Bastogne was in the geographic middle of the pocket at a major crossroads. It was strategically important, yes, but it really wasn't the 'rear'.
Patton would liked to have 'pinched-off' the Bulge at its base & bag the entire German force. Instead we just sort of pushed the Bulge back & stabilized the lines. This was more in keeping with Eisenhower's "Broad Front Strategy". It allowed a lot of Germans to escape, albeit without the vast majority of their heavy equipment.
A good argument that the ‘Bulge’ need never have been fought. The ill-considered Market Garden operation used up scarce resources that could have been used to support Patton’s drive across France and on into Germany.