5 Reasons New England Patriots Should Be Super Bowl Favorites in 2012

It should come as a surprise to almost no one that the New England Patriots are favored to win the Super Bowl this coming season. 

The reasons behind this assumption are bountiful (excuse the pun, Saints fans), and I will touch on the five major ones in this slideshow. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are hungry for their fourth title, a notion which is only amplified by having last season's trophy fall right through their hands. 

Have things gotten easier for the Patriots?

No, they will most likely be tougher this year. However, the Patriots have continued to be a living and breathing organism that can adapt and change styles on the fly. The Patriots are truly unlike anything the NFL has ever seen.

They have built a tradition of winning over the past 12 years since that first Super Bowl title over the St. Louis Rams. That tradition has seen three league championships and five AFC championships.

However, it has also seen two Super Bowl losses, and more than a couple one-and-dones. The team leaders are aging, there is no doubt they are on the back-nine. It is time to go out the way the Brady-Belichick era came in, with a Super Bowl ring. 

The Competition

The wait continues for a team that will knock the New England Patriots off of the AFC East throne. The Patriots have finished atop their division nine of the past 11 years, a period of dominance rarely seen in any sport.

With big question marks in New York and Miami, and a reasonably sized one in Buffalo, the division is once again theirs to lose. Couple that with the rest of their unfathomably light schedule, and you have a second-round game in Foxboro this winter.

The only reasonably "elite" quarterbacks New England will face through the regular season are Peyton Manning and Matt Schaub, both of whom are coming off serious injuries, and Joe Flacco, if you will.

The next toughest QB they will face may come in a November 18th tilt with the Indianapolis Colts and Andrew Luck. The schedule handed to them and the path to the No. 1 overall seed is shockingly easy.

Something to Prove

Despite their seemingly continued dominance of the league, many members of the 2012 New England Patriots still have a lot to prove.

Brandon Lloyd is being hailed as the new deep-threat and top WR, but he comes with a laundry list of failed expectations with other teams. The nine-year veteran will be with his sixth NFL team this season and has a lot to prove with the high expectations coming from his experience with Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Wes Welker will also have a lot to play for, should no deal get done before the season. He is still fighting to prove that he is an elite receiver who deserves elite-receiver dollars. Even the great Rob Gronkowski will have to prove that his epic scoring season was no fluke.

On the defensive side, stars like Jerod Mayo, Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty need to prove they are championship-caliber players. Even Tom Brady will feel like he needs to prove himself after a relatively lackluster postseason last January.

No Slip-Ups

Going hand-in-hand with the competition and schedule is the fact that the New England Patriots do not slip-up—in other words, they do not lose to inferior competition.

Other elite teams like the Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers have hiccups in games against the bottom-feeders of the NFL. Baltimore lost games to the Seahawks and Jaguars last season. The Giants were dealt two losses by the Washington Redskins. These are things that largely don't happen in New England.

The Patriots beat the stuffing out of the teams they should beat. If you don't see what a big deal that is, then understand this. Beating teams like Miami and Kansas City while Baltimore loses to the Seattles of the league is the difference between Billy Cundiff attempting an AFC Championship-winning field goal in friendly M&T Bank Stadium as opposed to rowdy and loud Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

All-Around Depth

New England has had some issues at WR in the past. They have severely struggled to draft and improve young receivers and have been hit-or-miss with free agents.

This season, they have apparently gone the route of, "bring in a bunch of guys and see who works out." While unusual, I do like this method. The Patriots have  brought in a wide array of WRs, in terms of both quantity and quality, which gives them an advantage.

If Chad Ochocinco doesn't work out again this year, no problem, he is gone. Same goes for guys like Brandon Lloyd, Anthony Gonzalez, Donte Stallworth and Julian Edelman.

The Patriots have brought in another tight end to match with their current duo, and through the draft have significantly upgraded the depth of their defensive backs and defensive line.

The only spot where depth may be a struggle is on the offensive line, where retirement and injury could take a toll.

Don't believe in their depth? They may even have the first and second-best quarterbacks in the AFC East.

Championship Know-How

Throughout sports, there is something to be said for having been there before. It isn't a tangible thing like some may think. However, there are moments when split-second decisions must be made, and there are players who know the right decision and players who don't.

The ability to know that decision comes with only one thing: experience.

That is the one thing the Patriots have more than any team in the NFL. The two most important positions in football are head coach and quarterback. No one in the league has more championship experience at those positions than New England.

A young defense now has playoff and Super Bowl experience, so do key cogs to the offense like Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. That experience will go a long way this winter. The Patriots know their lines and know their spots, now they just have to get the job done.