Forget fourth and 2 for a moment. And realize that in a game that was decided by a single point, New England’s lack of efficiency in the area it counts most provided the opening for the Colts to storm back for their 35-34 win.
“That’s something that we’ve spent extra time working on in the last few weeks, including over the bye week, and we’ll keep working on it,’’ coach Bill Belichick said yesterday. “We’re not doing as well in that area of the field as we’d like to do, as we feel like we can do, and we need to do a better job of it.
“There’s no other way to put it, and those are important points - the difference between 3 and 7 - those are important points both ways and we have to coach it better, we have to play it better. We’ve got to play our best football in that area of the field because there’s a lot at stake and there are a lot of things we need to do better.’’
Among elite offenses, the second-ranked Patriots aren’t alone in red-zone difficulty. The fourth-ranked Cowboys offense is 22d, and the fifth-ranked Giants offense is 27th. On the flip side, the top-ranked Saints attack is sixth in the red zone, and the third-ranked Colts are eighth.
The Colts and Saints are 9-0. The Patriots and Cowboys are 6-3, and the Giants are 5-4.
Yes, it’s that important, and it’s not easy as flipping a switch.
“There’s absolutely a mind-set to it,’’ said ex-NFL quarterback Rich Gannon. “This is who we are, this is what we’re gonna do. It’s a different approach than in the rest of the field. In Oakland, we got inside the 4, and we’d bring [Zach] Crockett in. If you’re Indy, you let Peyton [Manning] throw it.
“But generally, the really good ones bring in heavy personnel, and move people off the ball. Teams like Pittsburgh and Denver, over the years, have run it down there.’’
And that’s maybe where the Patriots’ problem has come. With the arrival of Wes Welker and Randy Moss, the offense was re-formed as a spread attack.
In 2007, the Patriots became the first team in league history to run the majority of their plays out of the shotgun. In 2008, they did it again.
