A troubled off season surely won't derail the Patriots while an angry Saints could be very hard to stop in 2013.
New England Patriots:
Last season: Another season for the Patriots of doing what they do in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era; win. A 12-4 regular season was stopped in the AFC title game by the Ravens after the eventual Super Bowl champs went to town on them in the second half in Foxborough. It’s now eight years since the Pats last Super Bowl win... clock is ticking...
This season: The arrest of one of their best players, tight end Aaron Hernandez on suspicion of murder was the big off season NFL story. Hernandez faces a long time in jail based on what we know about the case, the details of which are pretty eye opening. The Pats top brass, eventually, said all the right things and drew a line under it and if any team are capable of moving on from such a bizarre incident, it is the machine-like Patriots.
Their other star tight end, Rob Gronkowski is just back in practice, and a fully fit Gronk could be huge for the Pats if he stays fit. That if is as big as Gillette Stadium by the way.
Timmy Tebow got the elbow, unsurprisingly, as did Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and Brandon Llyod, much more surprisingly. In came Danny Amendola, a a player with a dodgy injury history, and a load of no names that Belichick will probably turn into stars. It’s what he does.
Defensively sound, with one of the best QBs to ever play the game, the Pats will continue to be models of consistency.
Verdict: Even if the Dolphins improve, the Pats are a shoo-in for the AFC East. Only a season ending injury for Brady could derail them. Past that, we’d have some doubts about the roster depth, but they could easily win the AFC again and be back in yet another Super Bowl. It's what they do.
New Orleans Saints
Last season: Bountygate really dictated that this season was more than likely going to be a write off for the Saints, and they ended up going 7-9 without head coach Sean Payton.
This season: Drew Brees and the offence made sure that they didn't tank without their head coach involved, and while they tried to say it wouldn't make a difference, it definitely did. We're talking about a man who called an onside kick to open the second half of the Super Bowl game, that's aggressive, ballsy and innovative and his loss was always going to be telling.
On the offence, we don't really need to mention the QB situation. Brees is brilliant, will remain brilliant and lead the team as always. On the run, Ingram is a player I really, really like. He's a beast, and a banger and while there was plenty of rotation on the running game last season, he will be the go to goal line back this year. He also has the capability to get yardage in open field and like his mate from 'Bama Trent Richardson, both are incredibly tough to bring down thanks to their low centre of gravity. Fantasy football heads should have Ingram in their team.
That said, they lost a lineman in Jerome Bushrod who was the blindside blocker for Brees, and he was sacked quite a bit last season already. That's a worry for Ingram and Brees, as the front might not open up as many gaps or offer as much protection.
When it comes to defence, to sum it up, last season they really sucked; they were bottom or near the bottom in every stat imaginable. Of course, after all their controversy over the bounties and all that went on with that, it's not a huge surprise that they were out of sorts. Rob Ryan comes in as D-coordinator which means they should improve, and rookie Kenny Vaccaro has been looking promising. Don't expect miracles though.
Verdict: They should improve their performance up to at least 10-6 with Payton back on board. Brees will still be one of the best QBs in the league and the offence will get them out of a few tricky situations when they need.
