FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It’s an overconfident stance, sure, but when Heath Evans describes the mindset of the 2007 Patriots, it’s about what you’d expect.

“It’s funny,” the former Patriots fullback said. “I’ve often said – and I can imagine (Bill) Belichick getting mad at me for saying it – but it was never really a question of whether or not we were going to win, but how much we were going to win by.”

Some share the same attitude about the 2016 Patriots. For both teams, it revolved around a seemingly unstoppable offense.

In 2007, quarterback Tom Brady used wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker to light up opponents. This year, the attack may be more diversified with the likes of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett, receivers Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola, and running backs LeGarrette Blount and James White.

Brady remains the constant. In the 2007 season, he completed 398 of 578 passes (68.9 percent) for 4,806 yards and set a then-NFL record with an eye-popping 50 touchdowns against just eight interceptions.

Through four games this year, Brady has completed 98 of 134 passes (73.1 percent) for 1,319 yards, with 12 touchdowns and no picks.

Impressive, but 2007 ultimately proved there’s no such thing as a perfect offense, as evidenced in that team losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl.

There is always a kryptonite, and according to both Evans and Patriots Hall of Fame running back Kevin Faulk, who also played on that 2007 team, it’s the same now as it was then.

Unstoppable forces

What separates the two offenses from other juggernauts is a player who has to be accounted for at all times and can’t be left alone with one defender.

For that 2007 team, it was Moss, who totaled an NFL single-season record 23 touchdown receptions on 98 catches for 1,493 yards.

According to Faulk, the team knew what it had before the season started.

“I recall the first game of that season was, I think, the Jets away (a 38-14 win), and Tom threw a long ball across the field and (Moss) went and got it like it wasn’t really anything,” Faulk said of the 51-yard touchdown. “Nobody on our sideline was surprised, because we saw that in practice about a month before that. We’d seen the exact same route, play, exactly. We saw it that way.”

For this year’s team, the unstoppable player is Gronkowski, who now holds franchise records for touchdown receptions and total touchdowns. Allowing Gronkowski to roam in the secondary with single coverage, according to Evans, is lunacy, as would have been true for Moss.

“I’m not sure anyone was truly stupid enough to actually single Randy,” the NFL Network analyst said. “I’m sure it happened. Obviously, it was a long year. I’m sure it was done.

“We saw Gronk make Buffalo pay the other day, (he) basically streaks down the field untouched, Brady hits him in stride and he walks in from, what, 50 yards out or whatever?

“I don’t understand the nature of ever not doubling Gronk. The idea of singling Moss or Gronk, unless you have an Aqib Talib type that’s a bigger body that’s athletic enough to maneuver with him and savvy enough, you’re stupid to do it, because Tommy’s going to find it.”

A winning formula

Not every defense has the personnel to do it, but Evans and Faulk agree that opponents have to beat the Pats up front to contain the offense.

Evans points back to how the 2007 team had an experienced offensive line that was intact from the previous season – left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, right guard Stephen Neal and right tackle Nick Kaczur.

This year’s line has far more inexperience, with rookie Joe Thuney at left guard and second-year players David Andrews at center and Shaq Mason at right guard.

“That (2007) O-line, they’d been through some battles together,” Evans said. “This O-line’s different. Same (offensive line) coach (in Dante Scarnecchia), which is why I think they’re playing as well as they are. I definitely think they need to improve if this team is going to achieve greatness the way it’s capable of.”

But even that 2007 line, as talented as it was, still couldn’t handle the Giants in the Super Bowl.

“It’s proven that if you can get to Tom and pressure him, you can make some mistakes happen,” Faulk said.

“I can say that the Giants defensive line in the mid-2000s is one of the best examples I can give. Those guys got after us individually and as a collective group.”

In last January’s AFC championship game, the Broncos had that type of success, and they have the personnel to do it again this season.

“The edge pressure, and Derek Wolfe and the boys were pressing from the middle, and Tom had to deliver that ball in under two seconds,” Evans said. “(That) spells trouble.

“Every offense can have a bad day. If every defense is at its best and this offense is at its best, the defense is going to have to take advantage of it. It’s going to be on the interior of this offensive line.”

It’s a formula Evans knows all too well, that even the seemingly unbeatable are never quite that.

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