The New England Patriots are the current Super Bowl Champions, and were very active during the off season. Some of the key additions include Brandin Cooks, Kony Ealy, Dwayne Allen, Stephon Gilmore and many more, making the Patriots the odds-on favorite to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. New England has gotten some serious upgrades that can help them in their quest for their sixth championship in the Brady and Belichick era. With that said, here are the five reasons why the Patriots can repeat as Super Bowl Champions.
The AFC East
The AFC East is slowly becoming one of the easiest divisions in all of football. With Buffalo trading away star wide out Sammy Watkins, Miami losing franchise quarterback Ryan Tannehill for the season, and the Jets being the New York Jets makes it hard to believe that the Patriots will have a hard time sweeping not only two, but all three of the teams in the AFC East.
Looking forward, the Patriots will dominate the AFC East as they are accustomed. The reigning Super Bowl Champions will be more than happy to play against their division rivals a total of six times this season.
Additions In The Front Seven
The Patriots added some depth up front and it will show by the time week one rolls around. Kony Ealy, David Harris, along side draft picks Deatrich Wise Jr., and Derek Rivers will beef up the line. Wise Jr. was the fourth-round pick in this year’s draft with great upper body strength. He’s impressed during training camp, and could very well start week one if he is healthy.
Derek Rivers, the third round pick in this year’s draft, will need to be stellar for the Patriots. He can play either defensive end or outside linebacker and has great speed to go along with it. Then you have the veterans in David Harris and Kony Ealy to an already solid defensive unit. That means trouble. Look out for the Patriots defense as it looks to have another top-ten season on the defensive side of the ball.
Dynamic Cornerback Duo
The Patriots signed cornerback Stephon Gilmore this off season to a five-year, $65M contract. Talks rumbled around about Malcom Butler’s unhappiness that the two sides could not agree to a deal. One year of the new dynamic cornerback duo will change all of that, as Gilmore and Butler look to take the league by storm. These two guys can become one of the best starting cornerback pairs that the Patriots have had in a while.
These two men want to do what last year’s Patriots team did, and then some. Gilmore spent his first five seasons in Buffalo and he will finally feel what it is like to play in the post season. These two star cornerbacks can help make the Patriots secondary even more lethal than it was a season ago.
All The Weapons On Offense
Tom Brady and Josh McDaniel have way too many weapons on offense, which gives them more and more to work with. At wide receivers alone Brady has Edelman, Amendola, Hogan, Mitchell. Adding newcomer Brandin Cooks to the mix is insane. Tight ends include Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen who will both be threats in the red zone. At running back they have Dion Lewis, James White, with new additions Mike Gillislee, and Rex Burkhead.
That is eleven targets that teams will have to be accountable for throughout the whole 2017 season. The number of weapons that Brady has is none like we have ever seen before in the NFL. This offense has the potential to break a lot of records this season, and every other team should be on the lookout.
The Best Quarterback/Head Coach Duo Ever
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are trying to do something that has not been done in the history of the NFL this season. That is to win six Super Bowls as a Quarterback/Head Coach Duo. Brady can be considered the best quarterback to ever play the game. While Belichick can be considered the greatest to ever coach the game. Both these guys have been consistent year in and year out in New England. Tom Brady has played well his entire hall of fame career, and Belichick has been there for it all.
With these two still running the show in New England it is hard to beat the Patriots. With the offense looking lethal as ever, while the defense is looking to succeed again under Matt Patricia. New England is expecting to be playing football in late January, and even possibly in early February.
(@cjoneswho1212)
