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Assessing where the offense stands

Print | Comments () Posted by Albert Breer August 26, 2010 03:37 PM

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The Patriots offense certainly passed the eye test over the first two weeks of the preseason.

Have they been appreciably better? Well ... Yes and no. Yes, in that the look more explosive and balanced. But not as much from an overall production standpoint.

If you compare this preseason to last year's, you really don't see an enormous difference. Last year, through two preseason games, the Patriots produced 184 yards on Tom Brady's 35 plays (5.26-yard per-play average). This year, they've produced 241 yards on Brady's 42 plays (5.74-yard average).

Here's a breakdown of last year's first two weeks for the first offense (defined by the time Brady spends in the game) versus this year's. You might be just a little bit surprised ...

2009

Week 1
Vs. Eagles
23 plays, 126 yards
15 passes, 100 yards
8 rushes, 26 yards
14 points

Week 2
Vs. Bengals
12 plays, 58 yards
9 passes, 50 yards
3 rushes, 8 yards
3 points

2010

Week 1
Vs. Saints
16 plays, 91 yards
8 passes, 67 yards
8 rushes, 24 yards
7 points

Week 2
Vs. Falcons
26 plays, 150 yards
13 passes, 79 yards
13 rushes, 71 yards
14 points

So tonight, what should we look for?

Last year, against Washington, Tom Brady's night was cut short after crushing hit from Albert Haynesworth on the Patriots' final offensive play of the first half. Here's how it looked through that point ...

Week 3
Vs. Redskins
31 plays, 186 yards
20 passes, 149 yards
11 rushes, 37 yards
17 points

I think the coaches would like to see the team keep the good (solid red-zone, short-yardage play, explosive plays) and eliminate some the inconsistencies that led to negative plays last week.

Just something to chew on, before I hop in the car to head down there. See you guys when I get there.