Current Patriots’ Offense More Potent than the 2007 Version

I know that’s hard to believe right? The New England Patriots went undefeated during the 2007 regular season with Tom Brady and Randy Moss setting a few records along the way. How could an offense that went undefeated during the regular season in 2007 be even more dangerous now, especially after losing a speedster and play-making weapon like Moss from its arsenal?

It’s hard to tell just looking at the numbers. The Patriots were not able to duplicate their undefeated regular season record and Brady’s numbers didn’t quite measure up to some of the statistics he posted in 2007. His completion percentage was down, he threw for less touchdowns and he threw four more interceptions. He did have his best ever year in terms of total passing yardage though.

So how is this offense better when most of Brady’s numbers have declined? One reason is because of a slight change the Patriots made in their offensive philosophy. This change has been the difference in how they have played this year as opposed to how they performed in 2007.

Some teams look for the best players they can find and shape the offense around them but teams like the Patriots find players that fit what they want to do. The Patriots had Moss back in 2007 when they were breaking all of the passing and receiving touchdown records. That was great during the regular season because Moss could stretch defenses with his speed and draw multiple defenders to him in coverage which opened things up for other players.

Using Moss to stretch defenses had its drawbacks though. The Patriots want home-field advantage in the playoffs which can mean adverse weather conditions. Conditions that don’t usually mesh very well with a vertical passing game.

As the weather conditions got worse in Foxborough, Moss was less and less of a threat. There were swirling winds and even snowfall in a couple of games that season. What hurt even worse was the fact that Moss was reluctant to catch passes over the middle. So after catching 98 passes and scoring 23 touchdowns during the 2007 regular season, Moss only caught two passes for 32 yards and no scores during their two home games in the playoffs.

A shorter passing game that forces defenses to play sideline-to-sideline as opposed to spreading them vertically has proven to be a better fit for the Patriots during the post season. During the 2007 playoffs Wes Welker was Tom Brady’s most consistent target. Who caught the most passes after Welker? Running back Kevin Faulk.

Welker has also been a pretty consistent receiver this year with 122 catches during the regular season and 12 catches so far during the post season. The difference between this post season and the Patriots last playoff run to the Super Bowl is that Welker has a little help this time around.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski has become Brady’s new play-maker catching 90 passes during the regular season and leading the team with 15 catches so far in the playoffs. Gronkowski has not only been a consistent pass-catcher he has been Brady’s most consistent redzone target leading the team with 17 touchdowns in the regular season and three touchdowns in the Patriots’ two playoff games.

The Patriots usually play out of a two tight end formation and their other tight end Aaron Hernandez also had a big season catching 79 passes for 910 yards and seven touchdowns. He is also their third leading receiver in the post season with 11 receptions and a score.

None of those guys has the blazing speed that Moss brought to the team but they put a lot of pressure on defenses running short and intermediate routes all over the field. It also makes things easier on Brady when he is not forced to have to air it out as often as he did when Moss was there.

Now they do still have Deion Branch who can stretch the field but it helps to have so many possession receivers when the weather conditions get bad at Gillette Stadium. It was especially important considering they weren’t able to get the same level of production from their running game they got back in the 2007 playoffs.

Laurence Maroney had 100-yard rushing performances in both of the Patriots’ home playoff games to help catapult them into the Super Bowl but the New York Giants would hold him to 36 yards rushing in that Super Bowl loss. The Patriots’ leading rusher in this year’s playoffs doesn’t even have 100 total yards rushing yet putting even more pressure on the passing game.

Better production in the passing game is the reason why the Patriots are finally headed back to the Super Bowl after a couple years of early exits in the playoffs. The Patriots did struggle to score against the Baltimore Ravens who did not allow New England to score a single passing touchdown in the AFC Conference championship game but fortunately they were able to muster just enough offense (coupled with a little bit of luck) to pull out the win.

And now they have to face off against a ferocious Giants’ defense that helped Eli Manning beat them during their Week 9 matchup earlier this year. The Patriots have improved enough to make it back to the big show but have they improved enough to come away with their first Super Bowl win since the 2004 season? We will know for sure come Sunday.

Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and also writes for both The Penalty Flag and Outside The Redzone. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @Sportmentalist.