New England Patriots: 5 burning questions in 2018
By Cody Rivera
With the Patriots dynasty finally nearing its end, what will they have in store for their fans during the 2018 season?
Alright, football fanatics. We are still two months away from kicking off the 2018 NFL season (the anticipation is the only thing that makes summertime truly excruciating). With the NBA and NHL playoffs over, and baseball being the only sport in full swing right now, it’s officially “dead season” for sports fans.
But July and August will go by faster than expected, as always. So even though we are still two months out, it’s not too early to start getting in the mood for some football. Am I right? You bet I’m right.
That being said, I’m here today to talk about my favorite NFL team – and America’s favorite team, let’s be honest – the New England Patriots. With Tom Brady entering his 19th NFL season at age 41, with some possible tension between Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, as well as some possible tension between Belichick and team ownership, 2018 is going to be a very interesting season for arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history.
Without further ado, here are five burning questions involving the New England Patriots heading into the 2018 season …
5. How much will Julian Edelman’s suspension impact the Patriots?
It’s basically impossible these days for the Patriots to have a drama-free season. That came to light a few weeks ago when wide receiver Julian Edelman was issued a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s performing enhancing drugs policy – something that caught everybody, including Edelman, by surprise.
The 32-year-old veteran, a former Super Bowl hero, is appealing the suspension. But as usual with these kinds of things, I wouldn’t get my hopes up on actually seeing it get overturned. The Patriots should go ahead and plan on playing their first four games without Tom Brady’s favorite target.
While indeed it sucks that Edelman will miss that time, mainly because he didn’t play a down of football last season due to a torn ACL, it’s not the end of the world for the Pats. Even without Edelman last year, New England went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl for the third time in four years.
Over the years, nobody in all of sports – other than maybe LeBron James – has been better at doing a lot with little than Brady. The Pats will play the Texans, the Jaguars, the Lions, and the Dolphins to start the season, and Brady can easily win three of those games without Edelman. The road game in Jacksonville might be a little tough as Brady will have to deal with that ferocious defense, but Pats fans will be more than overjoyed if they can come out of that stretch with a 3-1 record.
After that, when Edelman finally gets back on the field, this offense can finally get back to normalcy for the first time since Super Bowl LI.