Now that we’re a quarter of the way into the season I feel comfortable diving into some of Football Outsiders’ DVOA stats and the early numbers for the Pats are pretty outstanding.
Remember, these numbers are adjusted for the matchup and situation, so go easy on the “Pats haven’t played anyone good” outrage.
First we have our overall DVOA on both sides of the ball, where the offense is hitting a level that puts it on par with Brady’s MVP seasons of 2007 and 2010. Defensively, they’re better overall but a little worse against the run, though I’d say that’s party by design.
Here’s a closer look at how they’re matching up with various receiving threats:
The improvement against tight ends is what stands out most, while there a bit of drop replacing Revis with Butler, the rest is pretty much the same. And again, they’ve been better overall.
Finally comes what I call the “bend-don’t-break chart” where they’re looking far less bendy after last week’s performance against the Cowboys. We’ll see how that holds up.
