No. 1 Seahawks | No. 3 Packers | AFC East | Full List
No. 2: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Last Season: 12-4
First place, AFC East; defeated Seattle 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX
Tom Brady and the New England offense started slowly last season before leading the NFL in scoring from its fifth game forward. Brady has proven to be one of the best at adjusting on the fly. One personnel director said he thought Peyton Manning might have suffered a meltdown by now if forced to go through as many weapons as Brady has over the years. Another key will be whether an upgraded defensive front can offset huge losses in the secondary. Adding rookie DE Trey Flowers and free agent Jabaal Sheard to Chandler Jones and Dominique Easley up front, plus the return of a stout linebacking corps, should partly atone. As always, the Pats will be Super Bowl contenders. -- Mike Sando
As ESPN.com NFL Insider Mike Sando detailed in his 2015 rankings, the Patriots play eight games against Tier 4 quarterbacks, which is tied for second most in the NFL. That gives them one of the easiest "quarterback schedules" when using Sando's tier-based data, and there's no position more important than quarterback. So on the surface, the schedule looks favorable and they still have one of the best coach-quarterback combinations in the NFL, if not the best, in Bill Belichick-Tom Brady (for all 16 games after much uncertainty this offseason).
The cornerback spot is a question mark, with 2014 starters Darrelle Revis (Jets) and Brandon Browner (Saints) now elsewhere. When Browner made his debut in Week 7 of the 2014 season, teaming up with Revis to form a solid 1-2 combination playing primarily press-man coverage, the Patriots allowed just 65 second-half points the rest of the year, the second-fewest in the NFL over that span. Who replaces them? The Patriots are hoping Malcolm Butler can fill Revis' void at left corner, while Tarell Brown is the likely starter on the right side, with Bradley Fletcher and Logan Ryan rounding things out.
Patriots' percentage chance to win each game
Sept. 10 vs. Pittsburgh: 67.2
Sept. 20 @ Buffalo: 59.3
Sept. 27 vs. Jacksonville: 84.4
Oct. 11 @ Dallas: 51.6
Oct. 18 @ Indianapolis: 42.2
Oct. 25 vs. N.Y. Jets: 75.0
Nov. 1 vs. Miami: 68.4
Nov. 9 vs. Washington: 78.8
Nov. 15 @ N.Y. Giants: 58.7
Nov. 22 vs. Buffalo: 68.3
Nov. 26 @ Denver: 44.0
Dec. 6 vs. Philadelphia: 62.1
Dec. 13 @ Houston: 55.3
Dec. 20 vs. Tennessee: 83.2
Dec. 27 @ N.Y. Jets: 61.1
Jan. 3 @ Miami: 52.7
Mike Reiss' game-by-game predictions
Never before has the club taken on the NFL like it did this offseason, first with Robert Kraft publicly calling out the NFL for its investigation into underinflated footballs and then Tom Brady beating commissioner Roger Goodell in court. So the single biggest change this offseason is relations between the team and the league office. It's icier than ever before. As for on the field, it's going to look different without veteran Vince Wilfork at defensive tackle, a spot he primarily manned from 2004-2014. Sealver Siliga, Alan Branch and first-round picks Dominique Easley (2014) and Malcolm Brown (2015) will be asked to fill the void.
"It's a new season for everyone. We all have to reestablish our level of performance whether it's a coach - starting with me - player, assistant coach, anybody else. ... We don't talk about last year. We talk about today. I'm not really worried about some other year or some other time, not living in the past or dreaming about something in the future. This team will be defined by what it does." - head coach Bill Belichick
The Patriots might have a lower win total than recent years - having won 12 games in each of the past three years and 13 games in 2011 - but they should still be in the playoff hunt. The last time they didn't qualify for the playoffs was 2008. The health of tight end Rob Gronkowski will be one of the keys, as he's the primary game-changer outside of Brady on offense. With Brady now available from start to finish, the Patriots have a good chance of becoming the first team to repeat since the 2003-2004 Patriots.
No. 1 Seahawks | No. 3 Packers | AFC East | Full List
