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The New England Patriots are coming off of a 2018 campaign in which they won their sixth Super Bowl championship, and now, heading into 2019, they are considered Super Bowl favorites once again.
The Patriots didn't have a very busy offseason, and if anything, they actually lost some pieces, as tight end Rob Gronkowski retired and wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Chris Hogan and defensive lineman Trey Flowers departed via free agency.
But New England still has Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and so long as those two are in place, the Pats are always going to be a threat.
Of course, it also helps that Josh Gordon was reinstated from his indefinite suspension, which made a very questionable Patriots receiving corps suddenly deep.
New England now has Gordon, Julian Edelman, N'Keal Harry, Phillip Dorsett and Demaryius Thomas in its receiving corps, but there will be some issues there for their Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday.
First and foremost, Harry, a rookie, is beginning the season on the injured reserve list as a result of suffering an ankle injury in his first preseason game. That's a rather big blow, as Harry was expected to be a significant contributor for the Patriots right off the bat.
Also, let's remember that Gordon was just reinstated last month and played in just one preseason game and looked shaky in the process, so it might take him a couple of weeks to get back into game shape.
As for Thomas? He is coming off of a torn Achilles, so it remains to be seen how much the 31-year-old has left in the tank.
Plus, tight end Ben Watson will be suspended for the first four games of the season.
That leaves Edelman and Dorsett as the only truly reliable targets for Brady as far as the receiving corps goes (he also has running back James White, who is a terrific pass-catcher out of the backfield).
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We know Edelman will do his thing. He is one of the most dependable wide outs Brady has ever had and just won a Super Bowl MVP, so he'll end up being a big-time target as long as he stays healthy.
But what about Dorsett?
The 26-year-old logged 32 catches for 290 yards and three touchdowns last year, but now, with so many losses in free agency and injuries and suspensions up and down the roster, Dorsett is set to play a prominent role in Week 1, which is why he is the Pats' biggest X-factor for this game.
Dorsett will likely have a much larger role in the Patriots' offense all year, but the season opener in particular seems to be an opportunity for him to shine given the uncertainty surrounding Gordon at the moment.
It should be noted that Dorsett was dealing with a pesky thumb injury in preseason, but he seems to be good to go for Sunday night.
Dorsett is tailor-made for Brady's style of passing, which includes mostly short and intermediate throws to rip off chunks of yardage to extend drives and tire out defenses.
He and Edelman could end up wreaking havoc against Pittsburgh, and it could actually open Gordon up for some plays downfield.
If Harry were healthy, I probably wouldn't have picked Dorsett here, but the door has been flung open for Dorsett to step in and make a big impact from the get-go.
