NFL

Fast-break Patriots’ O no slam dunk for success

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For all of the buzz about the numbers being piled up by the Patriots’ new fast-break version of the no-huddle offense, the only ones that matter are 3-3.

Tom Brady & Co. might be threatening the NFL record for first downs and stuffing a month’s worth of snaps into a single game, but all that has gotten the defending AFC champions is the mediocrity of a four-way tie for the East lead going into Sunday’s matchup with the Jets.

To be sure, it is as improbable of a 3-3 record as you will ever see — the Patriots’ three victories have come by a combined 55 points, while their three losses have been by an agonizing total of just four points.

The only consolation to coach Bill Belichick and his crew these days is that there still are 10 games to play.

“We’re 3-3, and we haven’t earned a better record than that,” Brady said Wednesday. “We haven’t played well enough and consistently enough to be better than that, but I don’t think six games defines a season, and I think that what will define our season is what we do over the course of the next 10 weeks.”

You don’t have to tell the Jets that New England is capable of busting out at any time. Obituaries that were being prepared about the Patriots last season when they fell to 5-3 after consecutive losses to the Steelers and Giants had to be thrown out when they followed with a 37-16 rout of Gang Green at the Meadowlands.

The lopsided win over the Jets helped propel New England to another Super Bowl trip, and that was before Belichick consulted with Oregon coach Chip Kelly about adapting Kelly’s “basketball on grass” offense to the NFL.

The Patriots’ approach of simplifying the play calls to one word while practically sprinting into the next play — all game long — has had opposing defenses gasping for air and the rest of the league buzzing.

New England already has an astounding 177 first downs in just six games, giving the Patriots an average of 29.5 per contest that would smash the NFL record for first downs in a season (416 by the Saints last year) if Belichick’s team can keep it up.

The Patriots’ pace is difficult to defend, at least so far, because it forces defenses to all but stick with the personnel they began the drive with because there is no time for anything but the most minimal of substitutions. It’s how New England was able to somehow find the time to outscore Buffalo 45-7 from the middle of the third quarter on last month in a 52-28 win.

But the Patriots’ three losses have shown that their new style on offense is no juggernaut. Even at a breakneck pace that wears down defenses, it’s difficult for any NFL attack — even one led by the Canton-bound Brady — to repeatedly put together mistake-free possessions.

That truism was on display in last Sunday’s 24-23 loss at Seattle, when the Patriots drove into Seahawks territory on four separate possessions in the second half — including the 6-yard line — but came away with just two field goals. The fact New England had almost 500 yards of offense that day ended up being forgotten.

“We’re making plays,” Brady said. “We’ve just got to make more of them, and certainly we’ve got to make more of the important ones when we’re down close in the red area so we’re scoring touchdowns and not kicking field goals.”