5 takeaways from the Patriots-Dolphins – Extra Points – Boston.com

This season, the Patriots have shown a staggering dominance on offense. The team now owns the NFL record for first downs in a season (444). They finished with 67 touchdowns for the fourth most all-time and recorded an NFL leading 557 points. Needless to say, the players had impressive years in contributing to this record-setting offense. Tom Brady passed for 4,827 yards, 34 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions. He had a 98.7 quarterback rating. He passed Drew Bledsoe for ninth all-time passing with 44,8-6 yards and passed Vinny Testaverde on the all-time completion list for eight, with 3,798.

Meanwhile, running back Stevan Ridley’s 1,263 yards this season were the fourth best in franchise history. He’s the fifth Patriots running back to ever get to 1,200, joining Corey Dillon, Curtis Martin, Jim Nance, and Craig James. His 12 touchdowns were two off Martin’s franchise record.

Wes Welker had another great season, catching 118 passes for 1,354 yards and six touchdowns. His 1,354 yards are fourth best in Patriots history, behind only himself in 2011, Randy Moss, and Stanley Morgan.

Brandon Lloyd finished with 74 catches for 911 yards and four touchdowns. And in only 11 games, Gronkowski had another stellar season with 55 receptions for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns.