Super Bowl 2012: Why Patriots Will Remain Team to Beat in AFC Next Season

It's been three days since the Patriots lost in painful fashion to the New York Giants for the second consecutive time in the Super Bowl. If you were an outsider looking in at the football world, you'd think it's the end of the world for the Patriots.

People are making a big deal out of Wes Welker's drop in the fourth quarter. Some people are going so far to say that Welker won't be re-signed by the team because of his drop. Brady's wife, Gisele, criticized the team for the amount of drops. Some people have idiotically said that Brady will start his decline next season because of his age.

When a team loses the way the Patriots did on Sunday, of course it's normal for the media to blow things out of proportion in every which way.

However, with the Patriots, it's a little bit different.

For a team that everybody was once used to staring at and saying, "This is the model franchise of the NFL," people are taking a little bit too much joy in this franchise's demise.

People still remember the Patriots winning three Super Bowls in four years. People still remember Spygate. People still hate Bill Belichick and Tom Brady with a passion.

Even though it has been seven long years since the Patriots last won a Super Bowl, the public still takes great joy in seeing the Patriots lose.

They are the team that everybody loves to hate. If you had to pick one team in the NFL, they are the football equivalent of the New York Yankees.

So what is the point?

The point is the demise of the Patriots has been greatly exaggerated.

Vegas released their betting odds for who is most likely to be Super Bowl champions next season, and the Patriots were No. 1.

However, if you look away from the betting odds and you pay sole attention to how the media and the fans feel, you'd think the Patriots won't contend for a Super Bowl ever again.

The Patriots may not have been overly impressive this year, they may have beaten only one team with a winning record all season long, but they are still the team to beat in the AFC.

Brady remains one of the top quarterbacks in the league and you better believe that going into next season, Brady will remain at the same level that he's played at throughout his entire career.

The receivers will be back, including Welker and a healthy Gronkowski, and the offense shouldn't be much different than it was in 2011.

The Patriots hold two first round and two second round draft picks in 2012. That should be enough ammunition to at least re-build the defense in the right direction.

When you look at the AFC as a whole, and a lot can change with Free Agency and the Draft looming forward, it is clearly a step behind the NFC. The NFC has won the Super Bowl for the past three seasons.

The AFC playoff picture in 2011 included a mediocre 8-8 Broncos squad as AFC West Champions, a rookie-led Bengals team as a Wild Card and a Houston Texans team led by a late round draft pick at quarterback.

As I said before, a lot can change from February to September. Surely there will be teams that get a lot better in the AFC.

Hell, if the Dolphins acquire Peyton Manning at full health, they'd definitely be one of them.

But look at the Patriots' track record. Since Brady took over as starting quarterback in 2001, they have never suffered a losing season. Their worst record during the Brady era has been a 9-7, and that was in 2002.

Of all of the years that Brady has started, the Patriots have failed to win the division title just once, that was in 2002 as well.

Whether you love them or hate them, the Patriots are one of the top organizations in the league and they always find a way to build a winning product on the field.

In a conference that is clearly second-tier compared to the NFC and has flaws from top-to-bottom, it shouldn't come as a shock if the Patriots are to return to the Super Bowl in 2013.

The question is, will they be able to win it this time?