Top 10 favorites for Super Bowl 53

1. New England Patriots

As long as Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are around, and in reasonable outward harmony despite reports of a strained relationship behind the scenes, the Patriots will be the top favorite to win the Super Bowl every year. There’s a possibility (however remote) that one or both of them walk after a win in Super Bowl LII, but there are no real, significant signs that will happen.

Brady continues to defy age as he has crossed into his forties. The decline has proven to come quickly for older quarterbacks (see Brett Favre and Peyton Manning recently), but after a down December Brady got mostly back into his typical form during the postseason heading into Super Bowl LII.

Belichick has proven to be a very shrewd de facto personnel man, and an unrivaled game planner. Losing both of his coordinators to head coaching jobs will be a challenge, as Matt Patricia heads to the Detroit Lions and Josh McDaniels goes to the Indianapolis Colts, but that’s something Belichick can overcome.

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The king is the king until they are dethroned. Regardless of Super Bowl LII’s result, which is days away as I write this, the Patriots have to be the No. 1 favorite to win Super Bowl LIII.