New England Patriots: Creating the Blueprint for Optimal Offense in 2015

Far be it from anyone to tell the New England Patriots how to run their offense. After all, this is a team that has ranked in the top 10 in points scored in each of the past 11 years and in the top five in each of the past five years. 

But as the idiom says, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. That's especially true in the NFL, which is built on creating an even playing field. Free agency and the draft create parity, which is another word for "everyone gets a turn at the top, unless you're in the AFC East and trying to overtake the Patriots."

Games	First 4	Final 12
Points/game	20	32.3
Yards/game	298.5	387.8
20-plus points	2	10
30-plus points	1	7
Third down %	36.2	47.9
Red zone % (TD only)	60	62.3

The Patriots took a few games before they hit stride in 2014, but once they did, the rest of the NFL was put on notice. In the end, the Patriots finished as one of the NFL's most efficient offenses no matter what angle you look at it from. They averaged 2.49 points per drive (third most in the NFL) and in the top five in all but two per-drive stats, according to Football Outsiders. 

That being said, the Patriots offense may be off to a slow start once again in 2015. 

As we speak, the Patriots must prepare to be without quarterback Tom Brady for the first four games of the season, and although his suspension could be reduced on appeal, it appears as though Brady will miss at least some time due to the findings of the Wells report and the investigation into Deflategate. 

But whether it's Brady or second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo calling the shots behind center, there is a certain blueprint for success for the Patriots offense. 

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Passing Game

Consistency is beautiful—well, at least it is when you're doing things right.

Over the years, the Patriots have pieced together a dominant passing attack with a heavy dose of tight ends and slot receivers. Last year, though, they added another element with a solid boundary receiver to round out the attack, and it created a new dimension to the passing game.

In his first year with the Patriots, Brandon LaFell put up the best numbers of his career, posting career highs in receptions (74), yards (953) and touchdowns (seven). Those numbers would make him the top receiver on some teams, but he was only the No. 3 receiver on the Patriots roster.

For years, the Patriots have been known for their short-area pass attack that focuses on a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts approach to move the ball slowly downfield and create manageable third-down situations. The Patriots spit in the face of that preconceived notion in 2014, with Brady racking up only 47.5 percent of his passing yards on yards gained after the catch, according to Advanced Football Analytics. 

That's thanks to LaFell as well as one of the best pass-catching tight ends of our generation in Rob Gronkowski. The 6'6", 265-pound seam threat may not match Julian Edelman's gaudy reception totals, but make no mistake, the offense runs through Gronkowski. 

NFL Game Rewind

In fact, Gronkowski's presence facilitates Edelman's production. On 3rd-and-4 against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 with 10 minutes and 19 seconds to go in the second quarter, Gronkowski (black square) ran a curl route down the seam, but the mere thought of him running free downfield forced the Vikings linebacker (red square) to shade to his side of the field.

NFL Game Rewind

In turn, that slight misstep opened up the middle of the field for Edelman (yellow square) to run a quick-hitting route between the hash marks that converted for a first down. 

Whether it's Garoppolo or Brady behind center, the Patriots can rest assured their signal-caller will have plenty of capable threats in the passing game.

They haven't been given such comfort in the past; there was a massive overhaul in the receiving corps between the 2012 and 2013 seasons with the losses of Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, and although there was some carryover from 2013 to 2014, there were still some changes with the emergence of LaFell and the lackluster performance of Aaron Dobson. 

This year, the Patriots are carrying over almost all of their personnel in the passing game, with the only exception being running back Shane Vereen, who often split out wide or blocked in blitz protection.

The consistency will benefit the offense as a whole, as everyone has a year working together within the system and has had time to familiarize himself with the tendencies of the scheme as well as those of his teammates. 

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Running Game

Not much will change for the Patriots in the air, but almost everything is changing on the ground.

Not only has there been a changing of the guard with the departure of Dan Connolly, but there's also been an overhaul at running back, where the depth chart is much more bottom-heavy than it's been in years past. 

With Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen both out, the Patriots will need to find new backs they can rely upon. Fortunately, that process came underway last year following Ridley's season-ending ACL tear. The sudden change at the top of the depth chart forced the Patriots to expedite the process by signing LeGarrette Blount as well as by making Jonas Gray a more prominent part of the offense.

Player	Ht	Wt	Exp
LeGarrette Blount	6'0"	250	5
Brandon Bolden	5'11"	220	3
Jonas Gray	5'10"	225	1
Travaris Cadet	6'1"	210	3
Tyler Gaffney	6'0"	220	1
James White	5'10	206	1

In reality, though, the Patriots have been preparing for Ridley and Vereen's departures for well over a year now. Since January 2014, they have added Gray, James White, Tyler Gaffney and Travaris Cadet while losing and then re-signing Blount and also signing Brandon Bolden to a contract extension. That's six capable running backs at the Patriots' disposal.

That being said, while the Patriots have a different running back for any situation, none of those backs can be considered a jack-of-all-trades capable of contributing in every situation. 

Thus, the Patriots' blueprint for success in the running game is to get everyone involved by using all of them to their strengths. That means a lot of White, Gaffney and Cadet on passing downs and Gray, Blount and Bolden as pure runners. 

But even with what may appear to be a lot of change, one thing won't change: The Patriots will still be spreading their snap count all over the depth chart. Last year, four running backs played at least 100 snaps in the regular season, but only one played more than 200 snaps. 

Unless otherwise noted, all advanced stats obtained via Pro Football Focus.