But even as those changes were made, new, evolutionary wrinkles were included on multiple levels. To that point, even after they pushed the pedal to the floor at the start of the 2011 season, they were still able to make tweaks – even though they relied on an up-tempo approach much of the year, 2012 marked was the first year since 2004 they achieved real offensive balance, thanks to the work of running backs like Woodhead, Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden and Shane Vereen. Ridley was seventh in the league with 1,263 rushing yards, and the Patriots ran the ball 523 times in 2012 – the highest number of carries for a New England team since the 2004 team ran the ball 524 times over the course of the regular season.