Friday 8 September 2017 05:38, UK
On March 10, the New England Patriots made a big statement with the acquisition of Brandin Cooks in a trade.
A mere month on from winning a fifth Super Bowl championship, the Patriots added Cooks - the leading receiver of the New Orleans Saints - and his 1,173-yard-and-eight-touchdown strong production to their roster.
"The best just got better", said Sky Sports' NFL presenter for 2017, Neil Reynolds. "We often see the Super Bowl champions get raided, their best players lost, but New England just keep adding to their ranks.
"They hit that reset button better than any other team in the NFL. They will act this year like they've never won the Super Bowl before - Tom Brady is that way, Bill Belichick is that way.
"They're always so hungry. That's why we always see them at the top."
While Brady and Belichick can hit reset and act like NFL novices all they want, the reality is the duo have been utterly integral to each of those Super Bowls successes, all earned over the course of their 15-year span as a quarterback-coach combo with the team.
Brady is 40 years old, but shows no sign of stopping, not content with his legacy already firmly cemented as the GOAT in the game - his fifth ring seeing him surpass his childhood hero, Joe Montana, and Terry Bradshaw, on four.
Despite missing the first four games of the 2016 season to suspension - a delayed punishment dished out by the NFL for his 'supposed' involvement in Deflategate - a bruised but belligerent Brady returned to wreak revenge on the league to the tune of 3,554 yards, 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions as he guided the Patriots to the postseason promised land once more.
Belichick, and his 'do your job' mantra, meanwhile, helped mastermind New England's incredible win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl, unquestionably the greatest comeback ever in Super Bowl history.
From trailing an explosive Atlanta offence 28-3 deep in the third quarter, Belichick adjusted his game plan and the Patriots somehow contrived to seal a stunning 34-28 win in overtime.
As far as Shaun Gayle, Super Bowl XX winner with the Chicago Bears, is concerned, there is 'no-one better' than Belichick.
"They're the standard," said Gayle, speaking to Sky Sports News. "Every team will be measured against the Patriots; the way that they prepare, led by Belichick.
"He's the type of coach that if there was a way he could improve the odds on the coin toss he would practice that.
"The way he game-plans these teams, he has a way of diffusing what confuses others. He keeps the ball away from the opposition playmakers' hands."
With that in mind, and Belichick and Brady again at the helm; can anyone stop the Patriots in 2017?
The Miami Dolphins, who made the playoffs in 2016, are the main threat to New England in their own division, while the Pittsburgh Steelers should once again be in the AFC shake-up, as well as the Oakland Raiders, who were cruelly denied the services of quarterback Derek Carr to injury late last year just when they were poised to be the Patriots' biggest threat in the postseason.
In the NFC, Atlanta will be desperate for redemption, Seattle Seahawks will be there or thereabouts again, while the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers appear to be the most apparent heir to Brady's throne.
Added to the mix are fashionable outside bets for a run to the title, Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, although any number of teams not mentioned could claim to be ready for a Super Bowl run. As we all know, any team can win on 'any given Sunday'. Or can they?
"As widely unpredictable as the NFL is, it's very predictable at the very top at the moment," added Reynolds. "The Patriots do look like they're strong favourites again."
Former NFL safety, Solomon Wilcots, joining Sky Sports coverage for 2017, isn't convinced the Patriots can be conquered either.
"The ways the league is structured, it's all centred around the quarterback position," said Wilcots, when speaking live on @SkySportsNFL twitter. "And, even at 40 years old, Brady is still going to be one of the best players in the NFL.
"It's impossible to pick a winner. It's more a case of deciding who is going to play the Patriots in the Super Bowl - and that would be eight appearances in 16 seasons, 50 per cent over a 16-year span! That would be incredible."
It's not to be ruled out. As made obvious by their triumph in the most recent of those Super Bowl trips, the incredible comes all too easily in New England.
Watch the first game of the new NFL season as reigning Super Bowl champions New England Patriots host Kansas City Chiefs in Thursday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Action from 1.20am.
Follow the 2017-18 NFL season with us on Sky Sports and through our website skysports.com/NFL also our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL
