Normally, coaches from the teams without Super Bowl rings spend parts of their offseason studying the schemes of the past champion. This offseason, time was certainly devoted to breaking down Bill Belichick's complex, flexible defensive schemes.

But maybe not as much time was invested in dissecting the Patriots offense. Thanks to the brilliant schemes of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, the Patriots got the most out of what had been considered average talent.

Defensive coordinators paid attention during the offseason, trying to study ways to disrupt the Patriots' ball-control offense. Pro Bowl quarterback Tom Brady rarely threw deep. Most of his passes were 15 yards or shorter. And as everyone knows, it's hard to stop Brady when he gets into a rhythm in the short-passing attack.

	Tom Brady was 14-3 (including playoffs) as a starter last season.

"It's tough dealing with the short passing," Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas said. "It takes away who you have on the defensive line. It doesn't matter how hard a defensive lineman is coming, the Patriots are getting rid of it."

Solutions to the Patriots' offensive riddle involve more than just the offense. The Pats also won last year because of big plays made on special teams and because of turnovers created on defense.

"To beat them, you have to have all three units -- offense, defense and special teams -- play well together," Ravens vice president Ozzie Newsome said. "You can't make mistakes against them or they will turn them into points. They are a very physical team. You have to play well against them to win."

What's funny about the Patriots is that they didn't have to play their best offense to win. Brady won his final nine starts, including the playoffs. In four of those games, he threw for fewer than 200 yards. He threw only one touchdown pass in each of three playoff wins.

"When the Patriots beat teams, they do a good job with game management," Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said. "They don't make mistakes and get themselves in long-yardage situations. That all starts with a successful running game.

"We have to do a better job of stopping the run against them. They ran the ball down our throats in the second game against them last year. In the first game, we ran the ball on them."

Overall, Weis does his best as a front-runner. The Patriots were 10-1 during the regular season when they led at the half, 9-4 when they scored first. In the previous two years combined, they had only 11 games in which they had a halftime lead.

With the lead, Brady looks taller in the pocket. Trailing, it's harder for an opposing defense to take chances on blitzes. The wrong blitz could open up the opportunity for a missed tackle and a big play.

	"	You have to be patient against them. You have to find a way to stop all their crazy shifting and motion. That's why on defense, you have to keep it simple. They want you to make mistakes. Keeping it simple gives you the best chance against them. "
		— Jim Haslett, Saints coach, on stopping the Patriots offense

"You have to be patient against them," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "You have to find a way to stop all their crazy shifting and motion. That's why on defense, you have to keep it simple. They want you to make mistakes. Keeping it simple gives you the best chance against them."

Despite the success of wide receiver Troy Brown, former Patriots receiver Terry Glenn was the only threat who drew extra attention. Secondaries went into more zone schemes against Glenn, rolling a safety to his side. Unless a team had a great cornerback, Glenn was considered the only tough challenge in man-to-man situations.

Without Glenn, though, the Patriots become more conservative with their passing game.

"Since we are a man-to-man team, you are trying to get them to throw deep," Thomas said. "It's definitely smart they are not trying to throw deep. If they try to throw deep and fail, it's second-and-10. You need to get yards so you get more third-and-three situations and that's easier to convert for an offense. You can run or pass."

Brady had only 32 pass plays out of 264 completions that went longer than 20 yards, only 11 in the final five regular-season victories. The more coordinators study the Patriots, the more they realize that blitzing them is inadvisable. So teams likely won't blitz Brady much this season.

"I think Charlie Weis is one of the best; he has great schemes," Thomas said. "You can't let your guys up front go. You just have to be patient. When Charlie was with the Jets, it was so tough to watch and practice because they will run the same plays but they would do them from so many different formations. You don't get tendencies."

So if you can't blitz the quarterback, you have to be physical against the receivers. Brady will throw in front of zones in front of defenders. Those defenders have to hit the receivers and try to force turnovers.

"But you have to get in the faces of the receivers and get some pressure," Newsome said.

But beating the Patriots defense is more important than beating the offense. Brady has the ability to come back, but that's not necessarily his best game. The Patriots won only one game in which they trailed at the half.

"You have to get the lead on them," Browns defensive coordinator Foge Fazio said. "They don't make mistakes on offense. You want them to have to try to be more aggressive, but they aren't going to beat themselves with the lead.

Thomas has being going against Weis' offense longer than he wants to remember. He came to one conclusion.

"They throw you off with everything they do and they try to get you thinking and guessing," Thomas said. "That's the one week I try not to over-study. It's not going to help. It's ridiculous, but over-studying is only going to throw you off."

Opponents may not lose sleep preparing for the Patriots offense. Their sleepless nights come after the game when defenders regret their blunders.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.