New England Patriots Offensive Leaders Look to Carry Team to Playoffs Once Again

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Sep 8, 2012

New England Patriots Offensive Leaders Look to Carry Team to Playoffs Once AgainThe New England Patriots head into the 2012 season looking for their offensive leaders to deliver once again and lead the team to the playoffs. Here are the numbers you can expect to see from the Pats' offensive weapons and how they stack up to the rest of the league.

Tom Brady threw for a career-high and
franchise-record 5,235 yards last season. It was the second time he had surpassed 4,500 yards passing in a season and that number is his
Bovada.lv over/under total for the 2012 season (both options at -115).

Five
quarterbacks in addition to Brady threw for more than 4,500 last
season: the Saints' Drew Brees (NFL-record 5,476 yards), the Lions'
Matthew Stafford (5,038), the Giants' Eli Manning (4,933), the Packers' Aaron
Rodgers
(4,643) and the Chargers' Philip Rivers (4,624).

Bovada has Brees as the 9/2
favorite to lead the NFL in passing yards again this season, with Brady
at 19/4 and Rodgers at 11/2.
Brady also threw 39 touchdowns last
season, the second highest-total of his career, and also gave up 12 interceptions.
His Bovada totals this season are set at 34.5 and 12, respectively (all
options at -115).

New England's slot guru, Wes Welker led the
NFL in catches last year with 122 — one of only two NFL players with
triple-digit receptions — and finished second to Detroit's Calvin
Johnson with a franchise-record and career-high 1,569 yards. Welker
added a career-best nine TD catches last season and looks to duplicate those numbers in 2012.

Welker's totals for
the upcoming season are set at 1,050 yards (over a -130 favorite), 105.5
catches and seven touchdowns (all options on those two at -115). Welker
has caught fewer than 105.5 catches just once in the past four seasons and has hauled in more than seven
touchdowns twice in his career.

New
Patriots receiver Brandon Lloyd caught 70 passes for 966 yards and five
scores last season while splitting time with the Denver Broncos and St.
Louis Rams. His totals for 2012 are set at 925.5 yards and 6.5
touchdowns (all options -115).

Rob Gronkowski had a record-breaking season for a tight end last year.
He caught 90 balls for 1,327 yards and an NFL-high 17 touchdowns — the
latter two marks were records for a tight end. Gronk's totals for 2012
are 84.5 catches (both options are -115), 1,050 yards (both -115) and 12
touchdowns (under a -125 favorite).

New England's offensive skill players look to get their season started on the right foot, as they face the Tennessee Titans in their season opener on Sunday.

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