The New England Patriots offense in Thursday’s preseason opener looked quite familiar. New England ran concepts through the air that made it appear Josh McDaniels was still on the sideline, while hammering home their regular gap-style runs on the ground.
But, that once familiar offense has not been what we've seen of late.
Through the first several weeks of training camp, the Patriots have been shifted towards more zone runs and play-action passes as a counter-attack. Thursday night, the zone runs took a back seat and appeared just seven times, all with Bailey Zappe under center in the second half.