There are only a handful of teams who can challenge the Patriots for the Super Bowl in 2017-2018.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons return their core team fro last years Super Bowl runner-up season. They pushed the Patriots to the brink of being blown out in the biggest game of the year. They had raddled Tom Brady for what seemed like an entire first half, and their offense moved the ball easily against the Patriots. The Falcons took an decisive 28-3 lead in the third quarter, and looked a if they new they would win the Super Bowl. But what was on the other sideline was the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL, Tom Brady.
Tom took his team and rallied the troops to an unbelievable second half comeback. All the Falcons had to do was run the ball in the second half and they would be the lead talk of this article, but the falcons got greedy and loss. Any wise Football fan, analyst, player, average Joe, walking down the street would have known to run the ball in the fourth quarter when you have a huge lead like the Falcons did.
I expect the Falcons to return to the NFC playoffs and lose to the Packers or the Giants. I wouldn’t say that the Falcons run last year was a one-time thing, but it might very well have been. The Falcons know how to push the Patriots and should be able to beat them if given a rematch in the Super Bowl.
Oakland Raiders
Some might say that the Raiders should have been in the game against the Patriots in last years playoffs, but the injury to Oakland’s starting quarterback, Derek Carr, changed all that. Carr’s leg injury came at the wrong time. The Raiders loss to the Houston Texans in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The Raiders will be looking to end their playoff win drought in 2017-2018 playoffs. The Raiders have a young powerful team with an solid defense. With the addition of Marshawn Lynch, the Raiders should be prime for an Super bowl run.
New York Giants
It would be insulting to not consider the Patriot stoppers, I mean the New York Giants. The Giants will need to solidify their offensive line if they hope to even get through the regular season. The Giants have the swag to compete against the Patriots, but they do not have the talent up front on the line in order to make it far next season.
Although the Giants are on this list, the Giants might be in the Market for a heir to the Manning throne. Eli Manning is coming into his 13 season with the Giants, and with an offensive line that can’t block for him, manning could be heading into his final years as the leader of the New York Giants.