New England Patriots
Head Coach: Bill Belichick (163-61 all-time in New England, 199-105 all-time)
Last Year's Results: 12-4, defeated in the AFC Championship game by the Denver Broncos
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Tom Brady (HQ)
RB: Stevan Ridley (AS)
FB: James Develin (PS)
WR: Danny Amendola (GS)
WR: Julian Edelman (GS)
TE: Rob Gronkowski (E)
C: Ryan Wendell (BAS)
RG: Dan Connolly (BAS)
LG: Josh Kline (???)
RT: Sebastian Vollmer (HQ)
LT: Nate Solder (HQ)
DEFENSE:
DE: Rob Ninkovich (GS)
DE: Chandler Jones (GS)
DT: Vince Wilfork (GS)
DT: Tommy Kelly (AS)
WLB: Jamie Collins (GS)
MLB: Jerod Mayo (GS)
SLB: Dont'a Hightower (GS)
CB: Darrelle Revis (E)
CB: Alfonzo Dennard (AS)
SS: Duron Harmon (AS)
FS: Devin McCourty (E)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Stephen Gostkowski
P: Ryan Allen
Schedule:
vs. @ Miami
vs. @ Minnesota
vs. Oakland
vs. @ Kansas City
vs. Cincinnati
vs. @ Buffalo
vs. New York Jets
vs. Chicago
vs. Denver
BYE WEEK
vs. @ Indianapolis
vs. Detroit
vs. @ Green Bay
vs. @ San Diego
vs. Miami
vs. @ New York Jets
vs. Buffalo
Predicted Results: 10-6 (4-2 in division)
Team Analysis: The New England Patriots have been the definition of "consistent" in the NFL for the last 10+ seasons. When I talk about the importance of having a great head coach and quarterback in the NFL, I point straight to the New England Patriots as proof. Having a head coach like Bill Belichick and a quarterback like Tom Brady will give you 11 divisional titles, 11 playoff appearances, 5 AFC championships, and 3 Super Bowl rings. I know about 30 other NFL teams that would trade spots with the Patriots teams of the 2000's. The only question concerning this team is, when does it all end? The NFL is blooming with parity and you need to overhaul your roster with youth every year to remain competitive in the league. With Belichick and Brady getting close to the age where they both have to at least start to consider that the end is near, the Patriot's championship window has to be closing. The good news is, it's alive and well this year and once again the Patriots are a heavy favorite to get to the Super Bowl out of the AFC.
The Patriots offense ends and begins with Tom Brady. The one year the Patriots didn't make the playoffs under the Brady era was when Brady was injured and Matt Cassel stepped in (the Pats still finished a solid 11-5 that year). In other words, if Brady's playing....the Patriots are good. It almost doesn't matter who you surround Brady with, he'll be successful, but he should enjoy even more success this year due the stability in the offense. If he gets a healthy Rob Gronkowski back for the entire year, watch out. Gronk is still the best tight end in the league when he's healthy and he's absolutely unstoppable. You just need to get him on the field, and that's been a huge problem the last few seasons. There are also some questions on the offensive line, especially due to the trade of Logan Mankins a few weeks back, but when have the Patriots ever released/traded a "superstar" and it's come back to bite them in the ass? Something tells me they'll be just fine on the line and if everyone can stay healthy (looking at you Gronk and Danny Amendola), the Patriots will be heavy favorites to once again be playing in the AFC title game.
On defense, the Patriots are pretty well off. They don't really have any holes anywhere and should be even better this year with the addition of Darrelle Revis. They may have lost Aqib Talib in free agency, but Revis is a better player than Talib is and something tells me that Belichick is going to turn Revis into one of the most feared CB's in the league again. If that happens, it's my opinion that the AFC trophy could very well find itself in New England once again. Sometimes, life just isn't fair. If your a fan of a team in the AFC East not named the "New England Patriots", life probably hasn't been treating you well lately and things don't look to be improving anytime soon. As for the Patriots and their fan base? Life is good and a legit Super Bowl contender is waiting right there to terrorize the rest of the NFL once again.
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