After New England's balanced attack has rolled off 83 points in the past two weeks, comparisons are being made to the 2007 offense. In your opinion, which offense is better, 2007 or 2012?
Jason: The 2007 offense was better, and it's not really close. Let's not lose sight of the epic suckiness of the Buffalo D. In Week 1, they made some people think Mark Sanchez deserves a starting job in the NFL. With that said, I do think this offense is good enough to win a championship. But I don't think they are in the discussion with the record-setting machine we saw 5 years ago.
Stephen: Because of the running presence of Stevan Ridley and Brandon Bolden and the lethal combination of Rob Gronkowski and a healthy Aaron Hernandez, the 2012 offense is superior to the 2007 version. Most people forget that after a record-shattering start, many teams managed to figure out the '07 attack and slowed down the pace as the season progressed, culminating in the 14-point output in the Super Bowl. With Hernandez healthy, New England simply has too many weapons to utilize in too many formations to be shut down.
Derek: At this point, I have to give the nod to the 2007 team. There is nothing about this current Patriots offense that is anywhere close to as amazing and deadly as the Brady-to-Moss connection five years ago. That offense shattered all sorts of records – total points, TD throws by a QB, and TD receptions by a receiver. If it weren't for Asante Samuel's inability to catch a sure interception or the refs swallowing their whistle and not calling one of the 97 holding penalties that occurred during the helmet catch, the 2007 Patriots would be 16-0 and Super Bowl Champions and this discussion would never take place.
The current Pats squad already has two losses, albeit due to two missed field goals (one by us that didn't count, and one by the Ravens that somehow did count). Still, that 2007 offense was so dominant out of the gate that it would have taken 9-10 field goals on most days to tilt the score. I like the versatility the Pats are showing, but I think the 2007 comparisons are getting ahead of the game. That being said, I think this multi-faceted Patriots offense has the potential to be really special, and potentially more effective down the stretch than the 2007 team. Also, keep in mind that the Pats have been without their most versatible player, Aaron Hernandez, the past four weeks.
The bottom line is that if the Patriots can pull out the Lombardi in New Orleans this February, nobody will care about how they compare to the 2007 squad.
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