A year ago at this time the Patriots had more question marks than The Riddler has on his sleeve as the team was still haunted by all of the uneasiness before and after the loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
But Bill Belichick erased all of the noise last fall and this past winter, as the Patriots led a mostly drama-free existence on their way to yet another Super Bowl crown.
Yeah, there has been the endless drama surrounding Tom Brady’s contract this summer. But when you take a glance around the rest of the NFL – particularly right now just 10 days away from the start of the regular season – you really appreciate just how good we have it here.
Everything is again coming up Patriots.
Just take a look at some of the Pats’ main contenders in the AFC this year.
Colts
Indy was getting a ton of buzz as a Super Bowl sleeper this year as they added defensive end Justin Houston and wide receiver Devin Funchess. But the absolutely stunning news Saturday night of Andrew Luck’s retirement at 29-years of age due to overbearing punishment to his body, quickly made the Colts a favorite to land in the basement of the AFC instead.
One Patriots note to watch with Indy regards backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, who the Colts might potentially target in a trade. You’ll remember that the Pats traded backup Jacoby Brissett to Indy two years ago this week, and Belichick seems to be a fan of Jarrett Stidham – who has flashed in the preseason.
Texans
The Texans lost their leading running back, Lamar Miller, to an ACL injury this past weekend. Bill O’Brien is a top five candidate in the annual “first coach to get fired” pool, and Houston has the fourth most difficult schedule of any team in the NFL.
Browns
Remember the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles? Vince Young dubbed them “The Dream Team” right before the start of the season as they had – on paper – a fantastic off-season led by the signing of Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronnie Brown, Jason Babin and others.
Of course, when you say something like that it never, ever works out as the Karma police arrest you in the middle of the night.
Well, with all of the talking the Browns are doing right now, it certainly gives off some 2011 Eagles vibes.
None of the Browns’ veteran leaders (Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry) have ever won a thing, and they’ll be relying on a ton of first or second year players to make the leap to legitimacy.
“Dream Teams” work in basketball, but rarely do we see it come together in the NFL.
Chiefs
The big fantasy football question right now is “can Patrick Mahomes do it again?”
Well … ahhh … yeah … he probably will.
The guy is that good.
But while Mahomes’ stats may look similar to last season, it’s a safe bet that Kansas City as a team won’t be quite as good.
The Patriots’ AFC Championship Game opponents almost always regress the following season.
The Jaguars took a huge step back last season after making the title game in 2017.
The Steelers, the Pats’ AFC title game opponent in 2016, got bumped off in the divisional round at home (by Jacksonville) in 2017.
The Broncos fell off a cliff the year after they played the Pats.
Ditto for the 2015 Colts.
Also going against the Chiefs this year is the fact that they have the fifth hardest schedule in the league, and they also lost Houston, Dee Ford, Eric Berry and Kareem Hunt.
Never more than ever has there been this amount of year-to-year upheaval in the NFL (with the exception of the Patriots, of course). The Chiefs could very well take a surprising step back this season.
