The New England Patriots finished teh 2010 NFL regular season with a 14-2 record. They easily won the AFC East and ended up losing at home to the New York Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs. That loss will smart a bit, and Rex Ryan is always out o beat up on the Patriots. Why they keep coming up short in the playoffs is bothering me a bit, as their doesn’t seem to be a very good answer for that one. This is a good team, with a good coach and that will likely stay the same.
The offense scored a NFL best 518 points or 32.4 points per game on average. Tom Brady is their starting QB and he completed 65.9% of his passes for 3900 yards, and 36 TD’s with an amazing four INT’s. Freaking great numbers is the only way to describe them. The running game behind him averaged 123.3 yards per game, and the O line allowed 25 sacks.
The defense was pretty good as well as they allowed 313 points or 19.6 points per game on average. Their take away differential was a NFL best +28 as they forced 11 fumbles and picked off 25 passes. Not great numbers but when the offense doesn’t cough up the ball much they have a lot more to work with. They gave up an average 108 yards on the ground, but 271.8 passing yards on average. That seems a little high and may suggest this team needs help in the secondary.
It is always kind of hard to figure this team out. The regular season for them is like practice, but one way or another they continually come up short in the playoffs. Kind of hard to figure as the numbers don’t show any obvious holes.
Related Links:
- New England Patriots news and notes
- The Business of the NFL
- Joshua Lobdell.com