A look at the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots in their 17-10 win over the Bills:
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 21 of 59
3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 19 of 59
1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 10 of 59
3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 4 of 59
1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 1 of 59
4 WR/1 RB -- 1 of 59
2 WR/1 TE/2 RB -- 1 of 59
3 WR/2 RB -- 1 of 59
2 WR/1 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 1 of 59
(Snaps include illegal use of hands penalty, defensive pass interference, offensive pass interference, defensive holding and defensive pass interference penalties. Kneeldowns not included.)
ANALYSIS: At first glance, it looks as if the Patriots have become less of a spread type of offense, but that is a bit deceiving. Although the Patriots ran 36 of their 59 snaps with multiple tight ends on the field, there were several times in which tight end Benjamin Watson was split out wide in a receiver-like role. Even though he wasn't targeted in the passing game, Watson's presence when split out wide can serve as a presnap indicator of what type of coverage to expect, which can be important ... One aspect that stood out when going over the positional groupings is that the Patriots tried a little bit of everything. It seems like they are still searching for that decisive third weapon alongside Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Right now, one could argue that it's Laurence Maroney and that might explain why there has been more focus on the running game in recent weeks.