The New England offense will look drastically different next season. With losses on offense like Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez, Miami Dolphins linebacker Dannell Ellerbe believes the Patriots' dominance is finished, CBS Sports reports.
"I was brought here to help knock them off," Ellerbe told CBS Sports. "That doesn't mean we will, but we feel like we can. Like I said, we just have to prove it. You have to actually go do it."
New England's offense isn't the same. Welker signed with the Denver Broncos, Hernandez is facing life in prison and Rob Gronkowski's status is uncertain after back surgery and multiple forearm surgeries. Over half of quarterback Tom Brady's throws last season were targeted to the aforementioned three players.
If you include the losses of Brandon Lloyd and Danny Woodhead, and assuming Gronkowski is unavailable, then Brady has lost five players from last season. Out of Brady's 637 pass attempts last season, those five players accounted for 522 of his targets - 81.9 percent of his throws.
Asked specifically about the loss of Hernandez, Ellerbe said: "Losing a starter always hurts and losing a starter as good as he was will really hurt. I don't think you can say the Patriots are the same as before after what happened to Hernandez."
If Gronkowski is available for week one, he and Julian Edleman are the only two players from 2012 that caught passes from Brady.
Brady won three Super Bowls without much of a receiving corps, but the team also had a consistent running game and a solid defense. While the running game last year showed life (7th in rushing yards), the defense still left much to be desired (29th in passing yards).
The days of Brady putting 34.8 points per game on the scoreboard appear over, at least on paper, and the defense no longer has Brady to bail it out by outscoring opponents. While you can never dismiss a Brady-Belichick team, this offseason has dealt a tremendous blow to one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL.
Still, if history is any indication, New England will soldier on just fine.
*Stats obtained from ESPN.
