NFL Team By Team Judnalysis Part XXI

Heading all the way back east, our next stop is the team that will be atop the AFC East, the New England Patriots. Tom Brady with real receivers? Yikes. The biggest question mark on this team (if there actually are any) will be how well Lawrence Maroney will play now that he is the featured running back. The is a team that was going off as a 5-2 favorite to win the Super Bowl and is the sexy pick this year. I tend to agree. Brady now has Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker to throw to. The defense is another year older, but was solidified by the signing of Adailius Thomas from Baltimore. One question is whether these new high-priced free agents will be more like the mercenaries hired by the Yankees over the years or will they buy into Bill Belicheck's team system? Regardless, this team is the class of the AFC East and have a very real opportunity to be playing in February.