New England Patriots Season Recap

AFC East	Finished 1st in Division Beat Houston in Divisional Round Beat Pittsburgh in AFC Championship Beat Atlanta in Super Bowl
Overall Record: 14-2 (5-1 in the division)	Draft Position: 32nd
Head Coach: Bill Belichick	GM: Bill Belichick

Pro Bowlers

• QB Tom Brady
• MLB Dont'a Hightower
• FS Devin McCourty
• ST Matthew Slater

2016 Rankings

	Yards/Game	Points/Game	Passing Yards/Game	Rushing Yards/Game
Offense	4th	3rd	4th	7th	TDs – T-3rd
Defense	8th	1st	12th	T-3rd	Sacks – T-16th	INTs – T-15th

Top Passers

Name	Games Started	CMP. PCT.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Passer Rating	QBR
Tom Brady	12	67.4	3,554	28	2	112.2	83.1
Jimmy Garoppolo	2	68.3	502	4	0	113.3	89.9
Jacoby Brissett	2	61.8	400	0	0	83.9	44

Top Rushers

Name	Rushing Yards	Y/A	TDs
LeGarrette Blount	1,161	3.9	18
Dion Lewis	283	4.4	0

Top Pass Catchers

Name	Receptions	Yards	Y/C	TDs
Julian Edelman	98	1,106	11.3	3
Martellus Bennett	55	701	12.7	7

Top Defensive Players

• CB Logan Ryan - 92 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, 2 INTs,  1 forced fumble
• S Patrick Chung - 91 total tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 INT
• DT Trey Flowers - 45 total tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks
• CB Malcolm Butler - 63 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, 4 INTs, 1 forced fumble

Impending Free Agents

• DE Jabaal Sheard
• TE Martellus Bennet
• T Sebastian Vollmer
• OLB Barkevious Mingo
• WR Michael Floyd
• DE Chris Long
• DT Alan Branch
• ILB Dont'a Hightower
• RB Brandon Bolden
• RB LeGarrette Blount
• FB James Devlin
• CB Logan Ryan
• SS Duron Harmon
• DE Greg Scruggs

What I Said About Them Before the Season

• The Patriots are another team that I perfectly projected before the season began.  I thought that despite Brady's four game suspension that the team could still win three of the four and that when Brady was reinstated, that he'd play like a man possessed.  I thought that them trading for tight end Martellus Bennett was a great move and that having two good, pass catching tight ends would be helpful.  I also thought that them signing defensive end Chris Long was a savvy move to help provide a consistent pass rush.

Success/Failure

• Success - I mean they won the Super Bowl, that is a success every time.  By winning this Super Bowl, it seems pretty clear that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the best in NFL history at doing their jobs. Brady was magnificent after coming back from suspension and he torched opposing secondaries all season long and Belichick continued getting the most out of not a lot of talent to bring a solid roster together.  

Offseason Needs

• This offseason the Patriots are going to have a lot of money to spend and the first thing they should do with it is lock up Dont'a Hightower since he is their best linebacker and is the quarterback of the defense.  I would also like to see them re-sign Bennett who was really good alongside Gronkowski and played very well in Gronk's absence. However, this will only happen if Bennett isn't expecting to break the bank with this contract.  There is also a strong possibility that the Patriots trade backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has a lot of value and could possibly yield the team a first round draft pick.  If that happens, they will need a new backup quarterback but don't expect them to spend a high draft pick on one.  Also at the draft, they need to work on their offensive line situation by drafting a talented offensive tackle. They could also use a linebacker to help against the run and in pass defense and it is possible that they will draft Jabrill Peppers if he falls far enough.  If they are unable to re-sign Bennett, I think that they could draft a tight end as well instead of pursuing one in free agency.

*All stats and information come from espn.com, nfl.com, pro-football-reference.com, rosterresource.com, spotrac.com, overthecap.com, foxsports.com, and cbssports.com