2011 was another 13-3 year for the New England Patriots, who finished first in the AFC in the regular season, and won the conference championship in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens before losing to the Giants in a deja-vu-inducing Super Bowl.

While he didn't lead the league in passing, Tom Brady set a career-high in 2011, going over 5,000 yards for the first and only time in his career with 5,235 yards to go along with 39 passing touchdowns. He ranked third in the NFL in Passing NEP (213.43) and Passing NEP per drop back (0.33).

Wes Welker, for the third time in his Patriots career, led the NFL in receptions with 122, while his 1,569 receiving yards were a career-high, and his 9 touchdowns were the second-most of his career. He also recorded an elusive 99-yard touchdown in Week 1, one of only three in the past decade.

2011 was also the coming out party for Rob Gronkowski, who had shown a lot of promise with 10 touchdowns in his rookie year in 2010.

Gronk set both the tight end single-season touchdown and yardage records, with 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns, while he had one more that was eventually ruled to be a rushing touchdown. His 131.91 Reception NEP was, unsurprisingly, the best for a tight end in our database, with the gap between he and the second-best score being bigger than the gap between second and seventh place.

The offense leaned heavily on two-tight end packages, and Aaron Hernandez trailed only Gronk and Welker in targets, having a career year with 79 receptions for 910 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 74.31 Reception NEP was also good for seventh among tight ends.

The work on the ground was shared by BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead, and all three were quite efficient, each ranking in the top-20 by our metrics among the 73 backs to record 50-plus carries on the season. Green-Ellis played by far the largest role, recording 181 carries and 11 touchdowns.