Year in and year out, the New England Patriots continue to prove people wrong so it would be silly ever to count them out. After all, they are coming off of their sixth Super Bowl championship since Tom Brady took over in 2001, and that title came in a year where many felt the Patriots would be eliminated in the early stages of the playoffs.
Nevertheless, New England is entering training camp as the defending champion once again, and while the Pats are absolutely Super Bowl contenders once again, you would also be remiss if you didn't have some concerns about the overall state of the team heading into 2019.
Here are three burning questions for the Patriots heading into training camp:
3. Can Michael Bennett Replace Trey Flowers?
This past year, Trey Flowers was a very disruptive force along the Patriots' defensive line and was a big reason why New England's defense—which was questionable during the regular season—was so dominant during the playoffs.
But, the Pats lost Flowers to the Detroit Lions in free agency, and as an answer, they traded for Michael Bennett.
While Bennett is coming off of a solid 2018 campaign in which he registered 34 tackles and nine sacks for the Philadelphia Eagles, he is 33 years old, so we don't know just how much he has left in the tank.
Also, while the Patriots no longer play a base 3-4 defense that they became so famous for during their early Super Bowl years, they still play a bit of a different style than the Eagles, so it's fair to wonder how Bennett will adjust.
New England lost one of its best defensive players this offseason, and that is never an easy hole to fill, even for Bill Belichick.
2. How will the Receiving Corps Shape Up?
Earlier this offseason, the Patriots lost tight end Rob Gronkowski to retirement and wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Chris Hogan to free agency. Not only that but fellow wideout Josh Gordon is serving an indefinite suspension.
So, outside of Julian Edelman and an unproven Phillip Dorsett, New England had a ridiculously thin receiving corps that it has tried to patch up by signing Demaryius Thomas and drafting N'Keal Harry.
The thing is, though, Thomas is not the same Thomas from a few years ago, as he is now 31 years old and is coming off of a torn Achilles. As for Harry? He is very talented and is coming off of a couple of terrific years at Arizona State, but how he adapts to the NFL game remains to be seen.
There are a lot of question marks here, as Brady and Belichick are going to have to establish some pecking order in the passing game. Edelman is reliable, but outside of him, there are plenty of concerns.
1. Will Father Time Finally Catch Up to Tom Brady?
It looked like it was happening this past year when Brady had some rough outings during the second half of the season that led some to believe that the all-time great had finally reached the proverbial cliff, but, of course, Brady proved everyone wrong again, leading the Patriots to yet another Super Bowl.
But Brady turns 42 years old in August, and at some point, he is going to fall victim to Father Time. Brady may be the greatest of all-time and maybe defying logic, but he cannot defy the human body.
There will come a time where Brady finally begins to show his age truly, and you have to wonder if this is the year it finally occurs.
Of course, we won't be able to tell in training camp, but it is something the Patriots need to be aware of heading into this season, meaning the offensive line may need to do its best job ever in protecting Brady.
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