For Patriots, new season has brought completely new offense – WEEI | Christopher Price

When it comes to 2013, there’s a relatively small sample size – four games worth – but it’s becoming clearer that the last time the Patriots made a such offensive overhaul was between the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the addition of receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte’ Stallworth, when the Patriots went from almost a straight-up balance between run and pass in 2006 to a pass-heavy bunch that relied heavily on its receivers. The most obvious change from last year to this year is the slower pace. Through the first four games, the Patriots have been in the no-huddle on 17 of their 287 offensive snaps, a rate of 6 percent. That represents a sizable shift from the last two seasons, when New England was in no-huddle for approximately 25 percent of the time and regularly ran teams out of the building. (Through four weeks last year, the Patriots were in no-huddle for 85 of their 299 plays from scrimmage, a rate of 28.4 percent.)