Florence Marceau

While NFL Betting odds might have the Patriots outside their usual spot as Super Bow favorites, the team has had another outstanding season and is on the cusp of getting a bye for the 10th-straight season.

Here are the individuals that have stood out most this season:

Offensive Player of the Year – Julian Edelman

It’s hard to imagine where the Patriots offense would be if not for Edelman toughing out numerous injuries to pick up 97 catches on the season. He needs just nine more catches to break his career high. In a season filled with offensive injuries and turnover, the one constant has been Edelman, who has delivered big plays and clutch catches again and again.

Defensive Player of the Year – Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy continued to build off his breakout 2018 season and cemented his place as one of the key defenders on the Patriots stacked defense. Playing primarily off the left defensive edge, Van Noy is strong and athletic in setting the edge but also has an array of athletic pass rush moves that have him leading the team with 6.5 sacks.

Rookie of the Year – Jake Bailey

Bailey has been arguably the best punter in the league as a rookie, setting a team record for punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard-line. Add in that he’s handled kickoffs since Stephen Gostkowski was lost and Bailey is contributing in multiple ways. In a year when the offense has been inconsistent, Bailey’s punting has helped immensely with field position and has translated into real points on the scoreboard.

Most Valuable Player – Stephon Gilmore

Gilmore has been the best cornerback in the league this year, currently tied for the league lead in interceptions and taking on the top opposing target every week. Gilmore has ascended to the point where he can match up with the best receivers in the game and remove them from being a factor. His effect on the defense has had a trickle-down effect on the pass rush as well, as the Patriots put together perhaps their best defensive season in history. That’s in large part due to a shutdown corner like Gilmore how makes everything easier on everyone else.

Patriots betting odds are trending upward as the team closes in on a second-round bye in the AFC by locking up the second seed. Having lost to the other three division leaders in the conference might detract from the Patriots chances at their fourth Super Bowl title in six seasons, but you can never rule Tom Brady and Bill Belichick out.

How would the Patriots stack up against the AFC competition? Let’s rank the potential opponents.

5. Bills: The Patriots should’ve beaten the Bills more handily if not for a handful of game-changing plays. Having seen Buffalo already twice this season the Pats would have a good understanding and familiarity how to beat them. Josh Allen would have to play the game of his life.

4. Titans: Mike Vrabel’s team beat the Pats last year and any team with a big powerful back like Derek Henry could be a threat to take the vaunted Patriots defense off their game. They’ve been able to play solid football with Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, but losers of two straight, they need to turn things around or risk falling out of the playoffs in the final weekend.

3. Houston: The Texans finally knocked off the Pats this season but the Patriots would still be favorites if hosting a rematch, this time at Gillette Stadium. The Texans have the weaponry to attack the Patriots and the defense to give them problems but New England would give them a better game the second time around, especially if Will Fuller is out.

2. Kansas City: The Patriots also lost to the Chiefs but held their vaunted offense to just a field goal in the second half, giving them hope that they could lock in on what Patrick Mahomes does so well. New England has won the last two playoff matchups against Kansas City and would host them this year instead of having travel on the road like 2018. It would be a tough game that went down to the wire but the Pats have had the Chiefs number in the meaningful games.

1 Baltimore: The Ravens throttled the Patriots once already this season just as they have done to most of the league. Could the Patriots find a way to do what no one has done this year and slow down Lamar Jackson? If anyone can put the gameplan together to do it, it would be Bill Belichick. Forcing Jackson into mistakes would be the key.

Despite an uneven offensive season, the Patriots odds of winning the Super Bowl at 12-3 are still very good and this weekend’s battle against the Miami Dolphins will determine how difficult their road in the playoffs will be.

Beat the four-win Dolphins and the Patriots will get a week off and await the highest remaining seed on Divisional Weekend. But a loss and a Chiefs win would put the Patriots in action next weekend in the Wild Card round. That’s a huge difference, especially for a team that is as banged up as the Patriots are.

Most likely the Patriots should beat Miami and then expect to see a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs, a team the Patriots lost to in New England just a few weeks ago. Despite their record this year, the Patriots have struggled to beat the iron of the AFC, losing to Baltimore and Houston along with Kansas City.

Could the Patriots get revenge on those teams in the playoffs? New England’s second-half performance against the Chiefs is a reason for hope the Patriots could knock off Patrick Mahomes. Despite Kansas City’s recent success, the Patriots have still beaten them in two playoff games including last year’s overtime thriller.

But the Patriots will have to travel back to Baltimore if both teams advance and beating the Ravens at home is a challenge that might even surpass last year’s AFC Championship, where the Patriots went into Kansas City and won their third AFC Championship on the road and first since the 2004 season.

The Patriots aren’t the slam dunk they usually have been in the past, but they’re still good enough to make some noise in the playoffs. They’ll be a tough out for whoever they play but getting the playoff bye this weekend is of utmost importance.

The Patriots are off to their fourth 5-0 start under Bill Belichick, but this time around it’s an elite defense leading the way. For a team that has gone to eight-straight AFC championship games and four of the last five Super Bowls, is there anyone who can stop New England?

US Sportsbooks have the Pats as solid favorites so if you’re looking to bet the Super Bowl now might be a good time. The Kansas City Chiefs got off to a great start behind the electric Patrick Mahomes, but an ankle injury to Mahomes helped hand the Chiefs their first defeat of the season.

Teams like Houston and Baltimore have shown glimpses of being explosive teams and with mobile quarterbacks, they could challenge the vaunted Patriots defense like we haven’t seen yet. Buffalo gave the Pats everything they could handle in Week 4 and feature a defense that has slowed down Tom Brady the last few times they’ve played.

The Patriots always seem to get better, so that a handful of teams that have the talent and coaching to compete must follow suit. But perhaps the biggest key will be who stays most healthy.

The Patriots have already matched their high of players on injured reserve from last year, but could be poised to get starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn and rookie first-rounder N’Keal Harry back later this season. Those are two players who could provide a nice boost for the Pats.

The Patriots continue to be one of the best-coached and well-run organizations in professional sports. Their schedule has had an easy start but will get tougher, with conference rivalry games in November and December. Those games will have a huge say in seedings and where the playoff games are played.

A return trip to Kansas City for a second-straight year on the road in the AFC Championship would still provide a huge challenge for the Patriots and one they might not be able to overcome again.

Last season ended in storybook fashion for the New England Patriots, as they ran through the post-season en route to yet another Super Bowl victory. Their toughest test in those playoffs came against the Kansas City Chiefs, who took the Pats into overtime in the AFC Championship Game. And with the Chiefs getting more experienced and getting used to their high expectations, the Patriots will need to be at their best to defend their AFC crown against Kansas City. Will the Patriots be able to get through the Chiefs should they meet again this post-season? 

Chiefs Posing a Threat 

Perhaps the biggest reason that the Kansas City Chiefs feel like such a threat to the Patriots dynasty in the AFC, is the fact that Andy Reid’s team may not have reached their full potential last season. Given that the Chiefs ended up finishing at the top of the AFC standings heading into the playoffs, that should be a scary thought for anyone they face in 2019. 

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the player who embodies the idea that the Chiefs might be even better this year than they were last year. Mahomes burst onto the scene last season, earning the league’s Most Valuable Player award in his first full season as a starting quarterback. This year, he is being challenged in training camp by Reid and the rest of the coaching staff in hopes that he will be an MVP candidate for the second straight year. 

But it’s the defense of the Chiefs that might be the area the team improves the most. Last season, the Patriots were given all they could handle by the Chiefs, before Tom Brady led a game-winning drive in overtime to beat the Chiefs and their porous defense to get back to the Super Bowl. This year, the Chiefs have Steve Spagnuolo to run their defense, who has had a history of success against the Patriots in big games as the former defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. If he can get his players to put pressure on Tom Brady, the results this season could be different. 

Patriots Still In Charge 

While the Chiefs will put a tough team on the field in 2019, the New England Patriots are the New England Patriots for a reason. They still have arguably the best quarterback in the history of the sport in Tom Brady, whose recent contract extension is another sign that he isn’t going anywhere just yet. Brady comes into the 2019 season healthy, and still enjoys one of the greatest advantages in all of sports. 

That advantage is the superior coaching of the Patriots, led by Bill Belichick. When it comes to analyzing a potential match-up between the Patriots and Chiefs, there is no position where the Patriots have a bigger advantage than at head coach. Belichick has owned Reid in the post-season for his entire career, including Reid’s tenures in both Philadelphia and Kansas City. Even with the fearsome roster of the Chiefs, coach Belichick’s ability to utilize his players better than anyone else in the league gives the Pats an edge that no other team enjoys. 

The Pats will still need to overcome some adversity if they are going to earn yet another AFC championship over the Chiefs, though. They are going to have to figure out how to replace the production of Rob Gronkowski at the tight end position, as few tight ends in history have been as difficult to matchup with. And the injury concerns surrounding Julian Edelman will be something to keep an eye on, as his return is supposed to be a big key to this year’s Patriots offense. 

With or without Edelman, the Patriots are in for some stiff competition from the Kansas City Chiefs this season. But with Brady still playing at an elite level and Belichick still finding ways to outmaneuver opponents, all of the potential in the world might not matter should the Patriots and Chiefs meet on the field with the conference championship on the line. 

In a record ninth Super Bowl, it was fitting that the Patriots won in Houston in dramatic flourish. Trailing 28-3 in the third quarter, the Pats completed the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history ended in overtime when James White ran in a two-yard touchdown.

Things certainly didn’t look great early on for Tom Brady, as he became the first winning quarterback to throw a pick-six in football’s most lucrative game. That Atlanta’s Robert Alford ‘only’ ran in the second-longest return in Super Bowl history summed up the Falcon’s evening; second best in an impressive way.

Impressive, except the manner of defeat.

For 41 minutes and 18 seconds, the world was at their feet. Officially, the Pats never had the lead, underlining the cruel nature of defeat. When White crossed the line, the game was over with the Pats finally in front; there was no time for the Falcons to retrieve the deficit. It’s a blown-lead record every team hopes the Falcons hold onto.

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