Twenty-five years ago Wednesday, the Patriots were a team at a crossroads.
They were clearly trending in the right direction – after going 10-6 and securing a playoff berth in 1994, New England was considered one of the better young teams in the NFL. At the same time, the Patriots had deficiencies on both sides of the ball that needed to be addressed heading into the 1995 season if they wanted to take that next step.
The 1994 offense was woefully unbalanced: New England averaged a positively anemic 2.8 yards per carry, while Drew Bledsoe attempted 691 passes that season, a franchise record.