Super Bowl 2012: Why Tom Brady, New England Patriots Needs This Win More

The New England Patriots' championship window is closing quickly. If they don't win Super Bowl XLVI, they may never return to the glory of the early 2000s.

While this game is obviously important to the New York Giants, New England needs the win more. Their franchise quarterback is older, their defense won't be good any time soon and half of their offense is entering unrestricted free agency.

Tom Brady has put together another spectacular season, so it's easy to forget that he's 34-years-old.

In the regular season, he threw 39 touchdowns and set a career high with 5,235 passing yards. In the playoffs, he broke records against Denver and dove for the game-winning touchdown against Baltimore.

Brady is playing some of the best ball of his career and it's tough to imagine him slowing down any time soon. Unfortunately, as we learned from the ongoing Peyton Manning saga, legendary quarterbacks aren't immune to devastating injuries or father time.

Brady will be 35 before the start of next season. If he stays healthy, he only has three or four more quality years left. After this year, making it out of the AFC will be even more difficult for the Pats.

New England's defense is one of the worst in the league and they have few pieces to build around on that side of the ball. Offensively, they could be in for a major overhaul this spring as Wes Welker, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Deion Branch, Dan Koppen and Dan Connolly will all be unrestricted free agents.

The Patriots' level of competition isn't getting any easier, either. Houston is building a potential juggernaut, Cincinnati has a talented young roster, Pittsburgh is always a threat and the Ravens are only going to get better.

As the Cowboys and 49ers have proven over the last two decades, it's not easy to return to prominence after your dynasty crumbles.

New England fans should be joyous now, but bad times could be on the horizon. The Patriots desperately need to win the title this season because the future looks bleak.