And that’s the balancing act for offenses.
Do you take what the defense gives you? Or do you work to get the ball in the hands of your biggest threats?
The truth is, it’s both, and the best offenses do the best job of toeing that line.
“On certain plays some guys might have a better chance to get the ball than others, based on what you expect the defense to do,’’ coach Bill Belichick said Monday. “But they change, too, so you don’t always get the exact look that you think you’re going to get. You might think, ‘All right, if we get this defense, here’s what will happen on this play,’ but you don’t always get that.
“You have to read it out . . . When the defense takes one thing away, then hopefully we have options somewhere else. It’s not like we’re just standing there looking for one guy.’’
That doesn’t mean having Welker and Moss hasn’t affected the offense.
Five years ago, the season of the club’s last Super Bowl victory, six players had 26 or more catches, 10 receivers had 10 or more, and no one exceeded 56.
The Patriots are far more pass-happy now (Brady’s thrown 39 more times already than he did in all of 2004), so the numbers aren’t the same. Still, it’s easy to see what’s happened.
Welker has 109 catches and Moss has 74, and then it drops down to Kevin Faulk with 37. Moss and Welker have been targeted on 53 percent of Brady’s throws, and that’s even with Welker missing two games, and Moss being the constant apple of the opposing defensive coordinator’s eyes.
Figures like these are not unusual in other NFL locales. They used to be here, but this kind of change isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it’s not taken too far.
“I think there’s a fine line,’’ former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon said. “If a team doubles a guy, and cuts coverage there to try and take that player out, and schematically you should go the other way, it’d be foolish to press the issue, particularly if you have other personnel that can make plays. But the [offensive coordinator], those are the things he should pride himself on, finding a way to get guys touches.’’
The Patriots clearly did it with Moss on Sunday.
