Bill Belichick returns after a rare offseason where his team did not at least participate in the AFC playoffs. The Patriots made a notable run to 9-7, but missed the playoffs due to tiebreakers (one was in the division, where Miami used its surprising Week 3 win in Foxborough as a major edge in winning the East). This, despite not having all-everything franchise quarterback Tom Brady, who was lost in the first quarter of the first game to an ACL tear. Good sources say that Brady is healthy and ready to go, and he'd best be, as last year's backup Matt Cassel performed so admirably that the Chiefs though he would be the best bet to run their revamped offense and traded for him. Still, Brady should relish the chance to see snaps again, as most of his key weapons return from the 16-0 2007 season. He's won his last 20 starts in the regular season dating back to 2007. Rex Ryan's Jets and his former team, the Ravens, both play New England in the first four weeks, so we'll find out early if Brady is healthy, because he will be blized from everywhere against those two teams.

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The offensive line has played together for years, but three new faces were added in the draft as Belichick braces for any potential injuries up front. On defense, the Pats had just 30 sacks and 14 interceptions, both of which don't come close to measuring up to 2007 and previous NE stop units. Quietly, Belichick has rebuilt the defense with youth in the last couple of years, so old veterans (Vrabel, Seau, Colvin, Harrison) are all gone. He did add three veterans in the secondary and loaded up the defense with many of the 12 (!) draft choices the Pats had in 2009.

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