Fast times in the first half

Pats back to burying teams under early deficits

The Patriots have improved in a number of areas during their seven-game winning streak. But for a team that hasn’t even trailed during a game in a month now, the most significant improvement may be the fast starts that have buried opponents beneath heavy early deficits.

The Patriots of the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era have always been a good first-half team. They have led at halftime in 65.9 percent of games since 2001, which is the best in the NFL, and led by at least a touchdown in 50.2 percent of games, which also is tops in the league.

But through the first six games this season that success began to wane.

In those six contests, the Patriots were unable to put distance between them and their opponents in most games and had an average lead of just 4.3 points at the half.

Over their last five games, the Patriots have been burying teams in the first two quarters and have built an average lead of 14.2 points at the half.

The Pats have outscored their opponents by a leaguebest 71 points in the opening two quarters since Week 7, and have held double-digit leads in four of their last five games after 30 minutes of football.

The early-scoring groove has really found its way recently. Against the Broncos, Raiders and Dolphins, the Patriots scored first on an opening-quarter touchdown and used that as a springboard to a double-digit lead at the half.

So what does it all add up to for the Patriots?

For starters it makes the end of games more comfortable for Brady and company. But more importantly, getting out to fast starts has historically boded well for teams.

In fact, teams that lead at halftime, even if it’s just by one point, have won 78 percent of the time over the last 80 years of professional football.

Furthermore, since Brady took over at quarterback in 2001, the Patriots have won an astounding 91 percent of their games when they lead at the break.

And they’ve only lost one game in the entire Brady era when leading at halftime in Foxboro during the regular season (91-1). That lone loss came in the season opener this year against Kansas City. (The Pats also lost the AFC title game after the 2012 season to Baltimore in Foxboro after posting a halftime lead.)

But in other words, the Patriots have been a first-half juggernaut under Belichick, and coming from behind against them is a monumental task.

The Pats, who haven’t trailed in a game since Oct. 29 when the Chargers led 7-0, have trailed for just over six minutes of game time over their last five games, and have built leads of 17, 8, 18, 17, and 11 points at halftime during that stretch.

That’s a far cry from the first six games during which they held just one lead of more than six points entering the break.

Overall, the Patriots have been ahead at the half in nine of their 11 games this season, which leads the NFL, and if they can continue to build comfortable leads early in games, their winning ways should continue.