Daily Madden: Patriots Succeed With Hurry-Up Offense
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The New England Patriots are on pace to set the record for offensive plays run in a season.
"They were kind of struggling a little offensively," John Madden told the KCBS morning crew. "To get them going they said 'let's pick up the pace; let's just speed everything up.' And they did that and they went on to score and win and all those things. And that got to be a way of life for their offense."
The former coach noted that Patriots coach Bill Belichick met earlier this year with hurry-up offense specialist and Oregon coach Chip Kelly.
"Some of the things that are done at Oregon are really influencing offensive football, not only at the collegiate level, but also at the high school level and at the pro level."
Lions receiver Calvin Johnson needs 108 yards against the Bears Sunday to reach 2,000 yards receiving for the season.
"The only thing with that whole Calvin Johnson thing is that it was lost by Detroit not having a good year," Madden said, noting the Lions' 4-11 record.
Johnson broke Jerry Rice's 17 year old record of 1,848 receiving yards in a loss to the Falcons last Sunday.
"Had he broken that record and they won, it would have been a lot better and a lot more meaningful," said Madden. (8:25)
Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM. And catch John's extra report at 9:15 a.m. Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season.
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