The Patriots’ play through the first three weeks of the season has led some people to make comparisons to the run they went on during the 2007 season.
That year saw the Patriots hammer opponents on a regular basis, running up huge blowouts in what many linked to a response to the allegations that became known as Spygate on their way to an undefeated regular season and massive offensive numbers. Through three weeks of this season, which comes after Deflategate occupied a major place in their offseason, things don’t look so different.
They’ve scored 119 points, which is five more than the 2007 version managed, and quarterback Tom Brady has completed over 72 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,112 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s right in line with what he did in 2007, when he wound up throwing a then-NFL record 50 touchdowns, but Brady isn’t ready to draw any comparisons at this point.
“No, I can’t understand that one quite yet,” Brady said on the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI. “It’s like three games into the year. There’s so much football left. And there’s so many different things that can happen. Not even a quarter of the way through the season. It’s way too early to think about anything.”
Recent history says Brady’s right about drawing any conclusions. It was four weeks into last season that some were writing off the 2-2 Patriots after a bad loss to the Chiefs and their season turned out to have a better ending than they enjoyed in 2007. There won’t be any post-Week Four overreactions this year since the Patriots have a bye before returning to action against the Cowboys in Week Five.