FOXBORO -- There are few similarities between last year’s Broncos offense and this year’s squad. Sure, they’ve got the same orange-and-blue uniforms and John Fox is still running the show, but other than that, it bears little resemblance to the unit that got smoked on two occasions -- once in the regular season and again in the playoffs -- by the New England defense.

On Wednesday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the Denver offense is “95 percent” different than what it was last season, and almost all of that is because of the impact of Peyton Manning. Last season, the Broncos were led by Tim Tebow and a ground game that got them into the playoffs. This season with Manning at quarterback, they have opened up the passing game.

Through four games, the Broncos have run the ball 113 times and passed the ball 154 times -- that’s a pace that would see them finish with 452 carries and 616 pass attempts. By way of comparison, last season Denver ran the ball 546 times and had 429 pass attempts.

“It’s, I’d say, 95 percent different,” Belichick said Wednesday when asked about the changes in the Denver offense from 2011 to 2012. “[There are] some of the same players, some of the same matchups, but those players are doing different things. They’re not running the dive option -- it’s different type plays.”

“I think if you look at them as compared to last year, they’re obviously going to have a different look,” said New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. “I think it’s a system right now that’s working really well for them. Peyton is doing a good job of running things that they’re asking him to run and some of it happens to be real familiar with the stuff that he did previously.”

On multiple occasions this week, Belichick seemed to intimate there wouldn’t be much to be gained by even glancing at last year’s Denver film. Instead, expect them to spend time breaking down old footage of the Indianapolis offense and what Manning did with the Colts.

“It’s identical,” Belichick said. “Looks the same to me.” 

“I can’t really say that one way or another,” said Manning when he was asked Wednesday afternoon about the similarities between his old Indy offense and the current Denver scheme. “I think for me to respond to that would be too informative, I guess. If that’s [Belichick’s] evaluation, than that’s his [opinion]. It’s new players that I’m playing with. It’s new coaches. There are new things for me. Everybody can form their own opinion.”

One of the things that is a clear carryover from Manning and his days in Indy is a use of lots of sets that feature two tight ends and three receivers. Demaryius Thomas (21 catches, 325 yards, two TDs), Eric Decker (24 catches, 322 yards, one TD) and Brandon Stokley (13 catches, 158 yards, one TD) have worked as the primary receivers. Meanwhile, Jacob Tamme (15 catches, 125 yards, one TD) and Joel Dreessen (7 catches, 75 yards, two TDs) have worked as the lead tight ends.

According to Belichick, one wrinkle is that the Broncos moved the tight end around a bit, using him more traditionally in Denver than they did in Indy.

“I’d say the formations and all are the same. At Indianapolis, Dallas Clark was a lot of times in the slot -- with Denver, they’ve played a lot more two, three receivers with Stokley in the slot,” Belichick said. “So, the tight end plays the tight end, the tight end doesn’t play the slot, if you will.”

One thing that’s made the transition easier for Manning is that there is some familiarity with some of his options in the passing game: both Tamme and Stokley were teammates of Manning back in Indy, and have become familiar targets for him with the Broncos.

“I think that anytime you go through a change, any familiarity you have certainly helps in a transition,” Manning said. “Brandon Stokley is one of my favorite teammates of all-time -- just a guy that loves football, grew up around football with his Dad being a coach, and the four years he and I played together were a lot of fun. To be reunited with him has been special.

“Jacob kind of played in the shadows of Dallas Clark there in Indianapolis, and had the chance to kind of establish himself on his own. He’s really a good teammate and a hard worker as well. It certainly helps having a couple of guys you played with before.”

“I think they’ve been very productive, and certainly Peyton [Manning] looks for them in critical situations,” Belichick said of Tamme and Stokley. “Stokley gets open a lot in the slot and Tamme does a good job on everything, especially play-action passes going down the seam. I think he has a lot of confidence in both guys on conversions or scramble situations like that where they have to improvise and the play gets extended. Those guys do a good job, they have good chemistry.”

While there are undeniable similarities to what Manning is doing now and what he did with the Colts, the way Denver coach John Fox looks at it, when you look at Manning’s complete body of work, it would be foolish for the Broncos to try and make him something he’s not.

“At the end of the day, part of being a coach is putting players in the best position to have success -- I don’t care if you are talking offense, defense or kicking game,” Fox said. “It would have probably been close to moronic for us not to inject some of the things he did in 14 years in our offense. I think that’s all part of coaching.”