New England Patriots Preview and Review

Even after blasting through the competition in the AFC last season, the New England Patriots fell one win short of another Super Bowl victory for Boston. The New York versus Boston battle went to New York in 2011, but 2012 brings on a whole new season for Brady and his boys.

With the exception of the Packers, the Patriots have the second best NFL odds to win Super Bowl XLVII. Also, the Pats are the odds on favorites to win the AFC once again this season.

Why is this so? To start, they still have the arm of Tom Brady, and the Pats have retained almost all of their talent from last season’s AFC title team, and through the draft and free agency, have added some more.

For starters, Brandon Lloyd has joined the Pats. This not only gives Tom Brady another big time target, it will take a lot of pressure off of Wes Welker and an aging Deion Branch. The Pats also added a very good Jabar Gaffney to their receiving core.

This moves us to the not so pleasant problem the Pats are having with an unlikely source. Wes Welker has somewhat vocally expressed his interests in a new contract, but the Pats franchised him this offseason. While he will be making a nice chunk of change, he has mentioned holding out in order to get a long-term deal. I don’t think it will happen, but if contract talks get any worse than what they already are, things might not be so happy in New England come August.

May 24, 2012; Foxborough, MA USA: New England Patriots quarterbacks Tom Brady (left), Ryan Mallett (15) and Brian Hoyer (8) stand next to head coach Bill Belichick on the practice field during organized team activities at Gillette Stadium. Photo Courtesy By: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE.

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As the odds project, this seems to be the Pats’ to lose. While Denver is much better with Peyton Manning, and a healthy Texans team will be very good as well, the bulk of talent seems to have shifted to the NFC. Brady isn’t getting any younger, and the Pats want to win now. With the AFC down, the Pats are all in. I expect no less than 12 wins from this team, and maybe even more.

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