Okay, I think I have the Pats game plan figured out finally. I had to stop thinking like a rational person, so after several beers and maybe a few mixed drinks it came to me.
Pats D's philosophy is to get off the field as quickly as possible. Now for most teams that means getting stops. For the Pats it means giving up points, preferably field goals, but whatever. So, if the opposing team is taking two minutes to drive down the field and score, that doens't give their D much time to rest. So, Pats give up quick points. Brady and O counter with long sustained drive. Pats D gives up more points but it only takes them a minute to do so. Now the opponents D is back on the field for another long sustained drive. This goes on all during the first half, so after halftime the other team's D is completely gassed. A couple of adjustments for the Pats gets a stop here and there, and its hello blowout.
I've never seen anything like this, but the scary thing is that with the teams they'll face in the playoffs not named Pittsburgh it just might work. So instead of torching McCourty 30 yards downfield every pass, teams would be better off with doing more clock management for the sake of their D. Interestingly, few coaches seem to have figured that out, although in a league where Norv Turner keeps getting a job I guess that's not too surprising.
