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          New England Patriots

          Positional groupings: TEs dominate

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterSep 10, 2012, 11:00 AM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          NASHVILLE -- A look at the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots in their season-opening 34-13 win over the Titans, and highlighting some of the groupings that were part of big plays:

          2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 46 of 67

          1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 8 of 67

          3 WR/2 TE -- 7 of 67

          1 WR/2 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 4 of 67

          3 TE/1 FB/1 RB -- 2 of 67

          (Penalties included, non kneel-down.)

          ANALYSIS: Every offensive snap in the game came with two or more tight ends on the field. ... Tom Brady's 23-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez in the first quarter came out of the 1 WR/3 TE/1 RB package. ... The 2-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski came out of the run-based 3 TE/1 FB/1 RB big package, as did Stevan Ridley's 1-yard touchdown run. Overall, the tight ends help bring balance to the ofense.