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The New England Patriots may be coming off of their sixth Super Bowl title, but that doesn't mean they don't have any issues going into 2019.
The Patriots are actually a really flawed team right now, and while they absolutely have to be considered favorites because of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and for the simple fact that they are the Patriots, there is no doubt there are plenty of question marks here.
Sure, New England will probably win the AFC East yet again, but do the Pats have it in them to win yet another championship?
Here are the three main areas of concern for the Patriots heading into this year.
3. The Pass Rush
The Patriots ranked second-to-last in the NFL with just 30 sacks this past season, and on top of that, they lost their best pass-rusher in Trey Flowers to free agency.
Now, New England did replace Flowers with Michael Bennett, but with Bennett now 33 years old, it remains to be seen if he can produce at the level Flowers did in 2018.
Otherwise, the Pats are thin on pass rushers and will have to rely an awful lot on third-year defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. to pick up some of the slack.
Generally, Belichick always finds answers, but this will be tough.
2. Father Time
We keep saying it year after year with Brady, and year after year, he keeps proving everyone wrong.
But one of these times, Father Time is finally going to catch up to the GOAT, and with Brady turning 42 years old in August, you truly have to wonder how much time he has left.
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The good news is that Brady can probably coast through most of the regular season, as the Patriots should be able to win the division in their sleep. But once the playoffs roll around, he is going to have to turn back the clock yet again, and at some point, he isn't going to be able to do that anymore.
I'm not saying Brady won't be able to do it. I think all of us should be done doubting him by now. I'm just saying that with each year that passes, it becomes that much more likely that Brady will finally fall off.
1. The Receiving Corps
The fact that the Patriots took a wide out in the first round of the draft for the first time in 23 years tells you everything you need to know about the state of New England's receiving corps.
Rob Gronkowski retired, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Chris Hogan departed via free agency and Josh Gordon is serving an indefinite suspension.
That leaves the Pats with Julian Edelman and then a whole bunch of question marks. There is rookie N'Keal Harry, veteran Demaryius Thomas, who is coming off of a torn Achilles, and fellow vets Dontrelle Inman and Phillip Dorsett, neither of whom are exactly household names.
Obviously, Brady has won without elite receivers before, and the Patriots are known for taking no-names and making them look great, but this may very well be Brady's weakest group of pass-catchers in quite some time.
Of course, Harry could end up being a stud, which would certainly mitigate New England's lack of overall depth at the position, but there is no question that the Pats have a problem here.
