The New England Patriots will enter the 2019 NFL season in familiar territory.
The Patriots, for the sixth time in franchise history, will embark on a new campaign as reigning Super Bowl champions. New England already is off and running in its latest title defense, as the team has looked fairly impressive through two preseason contests.
Tom Brady and Co. find themselves in good position to make yet another deep postseason run in 2019. With a fully loaded backfield, the Patriots are shaping up to have a well-balanced offense to go along with what many are expecting to be one of the league’s best defenses. For these reasons and more, NFL.com currently has New England atop its league power rankings.
“Defending champions should never drop out of the No. 1 spot in a preseason power rankings exercise,” Dan Hanzus writes. “Josh Gordon’s reinstatement is a huge lift for an offense crossing its fingers for an impact from the likes of Maurice Harris, Jakobi Meyers and first-round pick N’Keal Harry. As for the guy who will be throwing the ball: ESPN’s Mike Reiss recently wrote that Tom Brady, who turned 42 earlier this month, has ‘been as sharp as ever’ at Patriots camp. Don’t be surprised at the end of the season when this is a top-10 offense — again.”
In addition to Hanzus’ points, the Patriots, at least on paper, own one of the easiest regular-season schedules. As such, the rest of the league might have to wait at least another year for the end of New England’s dynastic run.
