I think you might’ve asked this when it looked like Stevie Johnson was coming to New England, but now that he’s not, it doesn’t really change my outlook on things. 2007 was a flash in the pan, the perfect combination of scheme evolution, players and circumstances. It’s never going to be reproduced.
Even when they were playing press man defense last year, there were still a lot of the conservative defensive elements we’ve come to expect from Belichick. Or more commonly known as a “bend, don’t break” philosophy.
They were 23rd in yards-per-drive and 21st in plays-per-drive and those are just two stats of many that illustrate the kind of defense BB prefers.
So while it’s easy to think the defense is going to be completely different next year, philosophically it won’t be much different at all. Instead of disrupting timing with physicality at the LOS, they’ll rely more on pattern reading.
Offensively, it’s the same. They’re going to do what they do best. But regardless of personnel, does it really look like they’re going to suddenly be much different next year? Just improving the run game should be an area to address that hasn’t been yet.
