2016 Record - 14-2-0
Head Coach - Bill Belichick
Offensive Rank - 4th (386 yards per game, 27.6 points per game)
Defensive Rank - 8th (326 yards allowed per game, 15.6 points allowed per game)
Quarterback Tom Brady, the Super Bowl MVP, is still going strong at age 40 and returns for his 18th season in New England. Brady passed for 3,554 yards with 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Jimmy Garoppolo will continue to backup, but did show he is capable when he filled in at QB in the first four games while Brady served a suspension.
The running backs will be have the likes of James White (three TD in the Super Bowl win and also 60 receptions with five for TD in regular season), Dion Lewis, Rex Burkhead, Brandon Bolden and Mike Gillislee, who rushed for 577 yards and eight touchdowns with Buffalo last year.
The wide receivers got a big shot in the arm when Brandin Cooks (78 receptions for 1,173 yards and eight TD with the Saints) came over in a trade. However, Julian Edelman, the Pats leading receiver last season, is out for the season with a knee injury. Chris Hogan (38, 680, four TD) will likely step in as the starter along with Cooks while Danny Amendola (23, 243, four TD) and Malcolm Mitchell (32, 401, four TD) will now have bigger roles with Edelman out.
Rob Gronkowski (25, 540, three TD in only eight games played) is the tight end and will have Dwayne Allen (35, 406, six TD with Colts) along with him this season after Martellus Bennett left for Green Bay in the off-season.
The defense was among the best in the NFL a year ago and has linebacker Dont'a Hightower anchoring things along with Malcolm Brown, Trey Flowers (seven QB sacks) and Alan Branch up front. The secondary has Malcom Butler (four interceptions) and Stephon Gilmore (five interceptions with Buffalo last season) at the corners while Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty play safety.
OUTLOOK FOR 2017 - As long as Tom Brady remains healthy, the Patriots are the team to beat. He and Head Coach Bill Belichick may very well be the best ever QB-Coach tandem the league has ever seen.
The offense should continue to roll with the running back by committee approach that will look to complement the passing game that now includes deep threat Brandin Cooks to go with Chris Hogan. Brady will be without his main go-to guy (Edelman) this season, but has shown in years past he can work with just about anybody in the Patriots system. Gronkowski, if he can stay in one piece for an entire season, is the other main target in the passing game and actually plays more like a wideout than tight end as he averaged 21.6 yards per catch last season.
Defensively, New England led the NFL in scoring defense, giving up just 15.6 points per game. The run defense was third in the NFL (88 yards allowed per game) while the pass defense gave up 238 yards per game, but was tougher in the red zone and also had 13 picks as the Pats were a plus-12 in the turnover category.
Figure New England to go 13-3 this season as they continue to roll to another AFC East title and perhaps another Super Bowl appearance, which would be their third in four seasons if they pull it off.
The goal for this team is another Super Bowl title and that's a high possibility again this season.
TEAM SCHEDULE
Week One - vs. Kansas City
Week Two - at New Orleans
Week Three - vs. Houston
Week Four - vs. Carolina
Week Five - at Tampa Bay
Week Six - at NY Jets
Week Seven - vs. Atlanta
Week Eight - vs. LA Chargers
Week Nine - BYE
Week Ten - at Denver
Week Eleven - at Oakland (in Mexico)
Week Twelve - vs. Miami
Week Thirteen - at Buffalo
Week Fourteen - at Miami
Week Fifteen - at Pittsburgh
Week Sixteen - vs. Buffalo
Week Seventeen - vs. NY Jets
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