The New England Patriots have been the most dominant team in the NFL over the last 10+ years, they've won Super Bowls, they've had players win MVP's, and they've broken almost every offensive record possible, but the one thing they've been unable to is complete the holy grail: a perfect season. CBS Sports, during their projections for the upcoming season, thinks the Pats will at the very least run the table during the regular season.
Via CBS Sports:
Will guard Logan Mankins return to top-notch form after a less-than-stellar season? Can Gronkowski stay healthy? What kind of impact will an influx of new receivers have? Even with those queries unanswered for now, there's not much doubt that Belichick will find a way to solve those problems. And with old offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back for a second stint, there's a good chance that the offense only will improve. Which is a legitimately frightening thought.
Whoa. Let's not get carried away here.
As the article notes, the team was an Eli Manning drive away from winning the Super Bowl, but they were also the owners of one of the worst defenses I've ever had the misfortune to watch and a chip shot field goal away from not even being in the Super Bowl. While they did take some steps to fix the defense through the draft, particularly the front seven, they didn't do much to remedy the main problem: the secondary. We'll still have to watch Devin "the human turnstile" McCourty get burned by every receiver imaginable week in and week out, along with a host of other overwhelmed players.
Until the secondary issue is resolved, consider me skeptical that a team with that poor a defense will stumble into the Super Bowl again. Nobody is that lucky.