This Isn’t Tom Brady’s Offense
The offense that Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels ran on Sunday against the Dolphins bore little resemblance to the one Tom Brady led for the last 19 seasons.
No. 12 is gone. In his place is No. 1, Cam Newton, and McDaniels fit the offense to match his new-found weapon. The Patriots relied on a heavy dose of running plays to keep the Dolphins defense on the field, have the clock moving, and consume yardage. New England called 42 rushing plays, gaining 217 yards and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots ran the ball at least 42 times just once over the last six seasons (Week 16 in 2018 against Buffalo).
The threat of Newton running the back, a factor that was non-existent with Brady, opened up the playbook for the Patriots. They were able to run play-action passes, run-option plays, and quick sweeps. More than 80 percent of their play calls were either runs or play-action. On their penultimate drive of the game, the Patriots went 75 yards, all of it on the ground; Newton attempted just one pass. Wide receiver Julian Edelman ran for 23 yards on a sweep for the first play of the possession as New England took more than five minutes off the clock late in the fourth quarter.
Miami responded to New England’s rushing attack by stacking the box with all 11 defenders. Belichick and McDaniels, always making adjustments, switched to quick passes to Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and James White out of the backfield to open the second half. The return to health of Newton gives the coaching staff something they didn’t have with Brady, and, as usual, they utilized it expertly against the Dolphins.