In Focus: Charting the offensive opportunities for the Patriots skill position players

Stevan Ridley

Every week over the course of the regular season, we’ll present a list of the Patriots’ “offensive touches,” a running tally of which one of the offensive skill position players is getting the most looks. Like our weekly look at targets, it can occasionally be an inexact stat, but it remains a good barometer of how confident the coaches (and quarterback) are when it comes to the skill position players at their disposal. One week into the regular season, here’s a breakdown of the New England offense for 2012:

Stevan Ridley: 23 (21 rushes, 2 catches). Four negative plays.
Aaron Hernandez: 7 (1 rush, 6 catches).
Rob Gronkowski: 6 (0 rushes, 6 catches).
Danny Woodhead: 6 (6 rushes, 0 catches).
Brandon Lloyd: 5 (0 rushes, 5 catches).
Brandon Bolden: 5 (5 rushes, 0 catches). One negative play.
Wes Welker: 3 (0 rushes, 3 catches).
Tom Brady: 2 (2 rushes, 0 catches.) One sack and one kneeldown.
Julian Edelman: 1 (0 rushes, 1 catch).

Other offensive notes: After not going no-huddle for the entire 2012 preseason, the Patriots went to it judiciously in the regular-season opener, rolling it out for 17 of their 67 plays from scrimmage, or 25 percent of the time (about the same rate as last season). New England used it twice in the first quarter, six times in the second, once in the third and eight times in the fourth. … Ridley was given the ball three times on third down, and all three times, he was able to pick up first downs. … The Patriots had 25 first downs against the Titans: 13 rushing, 12 passing. It’s an interesting mix for a team that had a roughly a 2.5:1 ratio last season when it came to passing to rushing first downs (262 to 107).