The New England Patriots do a better job than most teams of adapting their offense to what they do best, and we saw another fine example of that Sunday night.
The Patriots ran 25 plays without a tight end, one more than their total number of plays lacking a tight end all of last season. It was the first glimpse at what the team's offense could look like during the post-Rob Gronkowski era.
Injuries, suspensions and other factors certainly played a role in the Patriots ditching the tight end so often in their 33-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium.
Benjamin Watson is suspended for the first four games of the regular season due to a failed drug test. He's still a capable receiver, so he should get plenty of snaps when eligible to return. Matt LaCosse initially was the projected No. 1 tight end with Watson suspended, but he battled injury throughout training camp and the preseason. He was active Sunday night but wasn't targeted in the passing game. Ryan Izzo did see action at tight end versus the Steelers, catching one pass for three yards. It was the only reception for a Patriots tight end all game.
There will be times this season when tight ends play an important role for the Patriots, whether it's in the passing game, run blocking, etc. But the Patriots aren't going to rely on any one tight end like they did Gronkowski. Gronk was a unique talent and a future Hall of Famer. The Patriots don't have anyone close to his level on the tight end depth chart, so they will attack defenses in different than we've grown accustomed to seeing.
New England Patriots
Teams that don't adapt get left behind. The Patriots continue to show they won't be one of those clubs.
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