The Patriots offense has gotten off to a hot start this year. Through three games, Tom Brady has only been sacked six times and the team has scored 119 points, which is a franchise record for most points through three games.
A big reason the Patriots offense has been successful so far is because Brady's been on fire, and a big reason why Brady's been able to stay hot is because he's getting good protection from his offensive line -- and that's where the Patriots' new innovation comes in.
In the NFL, most teams hope that they can start the same five players on their offensive line all season, with the hope that the unit eventually builds chemistry by playing together.
That's not the Patriots plan though, at least not this year.
This year, the Patriots are rotating guys in and out at such a furious pace that the team didn't use the same line combination once during their first five possesions in the team's season-opening win over Pittsburgh.
Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickett, who's been coaching football for over 40 years, has been impressed with the Patriots.
"I think it’s one of the smartest things I've ever seen," Trickett told the Boston Herald. "It's genius."
That's quite the compliment coming from a guy who literally wrote a book about playing on the offensive line. Trickett has been paying close attention to the Patriots' line because two former Seminoles -- Tre' Jackson and Bryan Stork -- are offensive linemen on New England's roster.
According to the Herald, the Patriots have used 10 different line combinations this season and didn't use the same combo once on consecutive drives in Sunday's 51-17 win over Jacksonville.
So why are they doing it?
Obviously, the Patriots aren't going to give away any secrets, but offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo did say that there's a method to his madness.
"It's not done just randomly. There's a specific reason why we rotate guys when we do, where we rotate them," DeGuglielmo said. "There's a rhyme and reason to everything."
The crazy part about the Patriots' offensive-line rotation is that it's possible the team stumbled upon the strategy by accident. The team had to put Stork, a center, on injured reserve with a designation to return before the season started, and guard Ryan Wendell has yet to play a game this season.
It's possible the Patriots could go back to utilizing five guys full-time once everyone's healthy, but with the success the team's having so far, that seems unlikely.
