Even though they are no longer in the undefeated club, the 10-1 Patriots are a team that is sure to get people talking this year during the playoffs. With the current talent on their roster, they should realistically be no better than 7-4. That’s a testament to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, arguably the greatest Coach/QB duo ever. They are the defending Super Bowl champs, and are likely to repeat this year with a team that is as barebones as last year. So how exactly do the numbers stack up against their undefeated season?
Tom Brady
In 2007, Brady finished with 4,806 passing yards with 50 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions. That year Brady was a stone cold killer. With the most talented offensive line in the team’s history, Brady had the most weapons he had ever had in his career. He also threw to a Hall of Famer in Randy Moss that proved to be even more effective than the Montana-to-Rice duo. In 11 games this year, he is no longer in aggressive mode, and his numbers show it. 11 games in, he is already 294 with 451 attempts passing and has 28 touchdowns. Add in the fact that he only has 4 interceptions and basically no receivers other than Gronk, and 2015 Tom Brady looks just as effective as 2007 Tom Brady. For a 38 year old quarterback to be this effective when legends like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are breaking down is an accomplishment. There is absolutely no drop-off in talent at the most important position for the Patriots.
Receiving Core
Even with Gronkowski, this is the worst receiving group in all of football. The 2007 receivers would absolutely stomp over this year’s squad, and even rivals some of the better receiver combinations of all time. Randy Moss and Wes Welker were the perfect deep threat and slot receiver combo. Don’t forget that they also had speedster Donte Stallworth as the 3rd -5th receiving option. Some perspective on just how good he was and how little he was needed is that his previous year in 2006 with the Eagles he played 12 games and averaged 19.1 yards per catch with 5 touchdowns. It’s possible he could’ve finished with 1,000 receiving yards if he had played all 16 games, but the 725 he had was nothing to sneeze at.
Running Backs
The Patriots haven’t had a running back of importance since Cory Dillon, and that was way back in 2004. Guess what? They won the Super Bowl that year. In 2007 they had a running back by committee model that switched between Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris. Neither was particularly good at running, but rather possessed great hands and blocking ability. Their running backs in 2007 had better blocking and catching skills than a lot of teams starting TE’s. This year is somewhat interesting with LeGarrette Blount, who is very much their starting running back. He is a power back that protects the ball and can control a game when needed. As a surprise, he also possesses the same great blocking and receiving ability that Patriots running backs have to have in order to play in the system. Now he is no Cory Dillon, but he is the best back that they have had in a long time.
Defense
Now this is where the smoke and mirrors really come in, even more than with their 2015 receiving core. The defense this year is in and out, and full of very few Pro Bowlers compared to 2007 when they were stacked on both sides. There are more no names on defense than there are on offense, and injuries are keeping key players out. Even with a bend don’t break offense, the Patriots are still not doing badly in defensive rankings-how is that possible?! They are ranked 5th in the league for points allowed yet are 16th in the league in yards allowed per game. It’s a telling statistic that shows that even though they don’t have the playmaking abilities of the 2007 defense, that they are still more than capable of preventing teams from scoring on them when it counts. The biggest number that may come to bite them later on in the playoffs is that they have 0 defensive TD’s off of interceptions.
Looking at the Patriots team in 2015 is a bit confusing, and gets even more confusing when you try to figure out how they are winning. There is no doubt that the 2007 undefeated team had the best players and even played on a higher level, but yet something seems really powerful about this year for the Patriots. Belichick and Brady looking for vengeance for Deflate Gate might be part of it, but that can’t be all of it.
One thing for sure though is that if Commissioner Roger Goodell has to hand them the trophy at the end of the year, it’s going to be one of the funniest YouTube clips ever.