Patriots are pioneers in using statistical analysis

Unlike Patriots, NFL slow to adopt 'Moneyball' principalsBy Seth Bornstein, Associated Press science writerHey, you know what's awesome? Reading another article about just how freakin' smart those New England Patriots are. Yeah? You don't say?And don't look now, but those Patriots are more willing than all those other stodgy NFL curmudgeons to look at the game in a new way.Excuse me while I barf.The article mentions that running backs tend to be overvalued in the game, and points to the Patriots as a team that didn't put too much emphasis on this position. This flies in the face of two facts: 1) The Patriots used a first-round pick on Laurence Maroney in the not-too-distant past. 2) The Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl since they had Corey Dillon, who was certainly not "just any running back." He once held the NFL's single-game rushing record.A good deal of the article talks about the statistical research that points to the fact that go...