Motion offense

Rather than standing pat, New England takes a pass

There were many amazing things about the first weekend of the 2002 NFL season -- Dwayne Rudd's helmet fling, David Carr's championship presence, Steve Spurrier's fun-and-run attack, the Rams' mortal offense -- but nothing, for my money, stood out like the New England offense.

Here is the Scary Stat of the Week For NFL Defensive Coordinators: In Monday night's 30-14 win over Pittsburgh, the Patriots' first 10 pass attempts went to different targets. Four wideouts (Troy Brown, David Patten, Donald Hayes, Deion Branch), three backs (Antowain Smith, J.R. Redmond, Mark Edwards) and three tight ends (Cam Cleeland, Christian Fauria and Daniel Graham). The touchdown passes went to free-agent signees Fauria and Hayes and second-round rookie Branch. For a 24-minute span between the first and third quarters, the Patriots called 25 pass plays in a row. They scored 10 points in the course of those 25 plays but, more significantly, Pittsburgh scored none. The Steelers didn't have the antidote for New England's spread offense. Hey, who would? Who ever thought Bill Belichick would throw for almost half the game, exclusively?

The reliance on the passing game was a stunner, obviously, but Brady implementing it in a controlled, no-turnover way 43 times is no surprise. New England knew it had to do make adjustments to the offense in the offseason, even after winning the Super Bowl. The Patriots, as I wrote in my Sports Illustrated column two weeks ago, set an NFL playoff record for futility last winter: three games, 37 possessions, three offensive touchdowns. No team had ever won the Super Bowl while scoring as few as three playoff touchdowns. So they set about fixing that.

Throughout the offseason, the Patriots were America's Fluke. I remember seeing player personnel director Scott Pioli in February at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, on the first day of free agency. Pioli told me how Hayes, a Carolina wide receiver in 2001, was the top guy on New England's free-agent list, but they weren't going to pay him more than Troy Brown. If Hayes wanted to come, fine; he'd be a great weapon. But it had to be within the Patriots' salary structure. Same thing with Ken Dilger, Indy's free-agent tight end, and free agent Byron Chamberlain of the Vikings. New England had a big need at tight end, too. Hayes said yes, he'd come for less money than he could get elsewhere -- $1.18 million on this year's cap. Dilger said no. Chamberlain said no. So Pioli went to the third man on his list, Seattle's Fauria, and signed him to a three-year deal that averages $1.07 million a year. In came Cleeland, from New Orleans, for the minimum, and Graham, from Colorado in the first round of the draft. And, to round out the receiving corps, the speedy and Smurfy Branch from Louisville.

And so New England braintrusters Bob Kraft, Belichick and Pioli did what they felt was necessary to give the team a chance to win again. They didn't stand Pat.

By eschewing the high-cost free agents on offense, New England doesn't have to kowtow to any single offensive player. Terrell Owens and Randy Moss are going to grouse if they don't get the ball enough. By having 10 offensive players with regular-sized egos, and common-man quarterback Tom Brady, you have an egalitarian team. Cleeland had six catches the other day, Branch six and Brown six. Patten had four, Hayes three and Fauria two. This week, against the Jets, it could be Hayes with eight, Fauria with seven. Who cares?

One other thing. Branch went through his college career at Louisville as a major offensive threat. He might have blocked three defenders his whole career. On Brady's 40-yard touchdown pass to Hayes early in the third quarter, Branch obliterated one of the hardest-hitting safeties in the league, Lee Flowers. Just decleated him. After the game, in the locker room, Branch was stunned to find that more teammates were congratulating him for his block than for his first NFL touchdown or for his other five catches. That's the NFL, kid. Lots of receivers can catch balls thrown to them. Rod Smith and Keyshawn Johnson are premier players because their repertoire includes great blocking.

It's one game out of 16, and the Patriots have one of their toughest games of the season this Sunday at the Meadowlands. They could lose by 14; that's how good the Jets can be. But the moral of the Patriots' story -- regardless how they do this week or next, because this team is going to good over the long term -- is this: You don't need famous people or big stars or $17 million bonus babies to win in this league. You need good players, players willing to check their egos at the door for the good of the team. That is as corny a sentence as I will write this year, but in Bill Belichick's world it's the God's honest truth.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Check out his Monday Morning Quarterback column every -- and you should see this coming -- Monday morning.

 

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