Deep trouble for foes

Adding long ball to arsenal ups the ante

FOXBORO — The Patriots have gained more yards than any offense in the league. Surprising?

Not really, even without their best chain mover, Julian Edelman. That’s because Tom Brady is still pulling the trigger, and he’s once again having an MVP worthy season.

The new wrinkle? How they’re getting the yards, or basically, how they’re ultimately burying opponents.

PATRIOTS BEAT Karen Guregian

The Patriots have gone from a quick-pass, dink-and-dunk offense to an explosive, big-play juggernaut as they prepare to face the Bills for the first time this season Sunday at New Era Field.

Brady & Co. have shown no limitations on offense 11 games in. Heading into December, they’re an offensive machine that can do it all. They can quick-pass you to death, and now, thanks to a few maneuvers during the offseason, they also have the ability to morph into long-ball hitters whenever the need arises, torturing defenses every which way.

Between the speed of Brandin Cooks on the outside, a healthy Rob Gronkowski, the re-emergence of Dion Lewis, and the addition of Rex Burkhead, this has turned into a much more dynamic offense than what we witnessed last season.

Already, the offense has amassed 54 plays of 20 or more yards. Last year in 16 games, they had 64 such plays.

“When you have guys that can threaten every area of the field, guys that can go deep, guys that can threaten the intermediate routes, guys in the backfield that are mismatches in the passing game, it puts a lot of stress on the defense,” ESPN analyst and former Patriot Damien Woody told the Herald yesterday. “And, oh, by the way, you have a quarterback that can or- chestrate that whole thing with a blindfold on. If you’re a defense, it’s really hard to defend all the people the Patriots can throw at you.”

This is really a response to what the Falcons did to them in the Super Bowl, taking away the middle of the field and forcing the Patriots to go to the outside. The addition of Cooks, in particular, and the production of a sound Gronkowski, who didn’t play in the championship game, makes a huge difference. The ver- satility of Burkhead also helps.

Losing Edelman wasn’t part of the plan, and it took time to adjust. And while they still miss his effectiveness in moving the chains, other elements are working well, whether it’s the running game with Lewis and Burkhead, the short passing game with the backs and Danny Amendola, the crossing routes with the receivers, the seam routes with Gronk, or the deep balls with Cooks and Phillip Dorsett.

In Sunday’s game against Miami, the Patriots had a stunning 10 plays of 20-plus yards. Brady’s passer rating of 114.4 on deep passes ranks sixth in the NFL. He also leads the league with 24 deep completions and ranks second with 824 yards on deep attempts, according to Pro Football Focus.

So if teams want to clog the middle of the field, they can play long ball with the best of them, or go medium range. In other words, they have all the bases covered. They can stretch the field in multiple ways.

“They’ve relegated Mike Gillislee to the bench. We don’t even see him. He can’t get on the field,” Woody said of the running back signed in the offseason. “Their offense always morphs. It’s never the same. They found a way to put the players in the situations where they can succeed. It’s a credit to coaching.”

Burkhead was a part of some pretty explosive offenses in Cincinnati, with talented players in wideouts A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu, Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert. But now, Burkhead has Brady leading this group rather than Andy Dalton. And with a collection of running backs who can run and catch the ball, it’s an even more diverse set of weapons for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

“We have a lot of talent,” said Burkhead. “We have the ability to do multiple things, whether it’s with our running backs, our tight ends, our receivers. It’s a very unique offense. I think coach McDaniels does a great job changing up the game plan every week. Any time you can have big plays, it opens up a lot of other things. It keeps the defense guessing. It may open something up in the run game, or the passing game. Because you have those explosive plays, the defenses have to prepare for those.”

Thus far, the pass/run mix in their 743 plays is 435308, meaning 58 percent of the time the Patriots throw the ball. Last year, after 16 games, it was 53 percent.

“I was one of the people who was really worried about the offense because Edelman was the chain mover,” Woody said. “But I always tell people when the Patriots are facing adversity, you have to wait until Thanksgiving. That’s

‘We have the ability to do multiple things, whether it’s with our running backs, our tight ends, our receivers.’ — RB REX BURKHEAD On Pats' versatile offense

when they start playing their best ball. And that’s what’s happening.”

The Dolphins had no defense for their air and ground attack Sunday.

Now it’s the Bills’ turn to try and defend the big play Patriots.