Three years ago, declaring the Patriots as Super Bowl favorites didn’t suffice.
Coming off of their thrilling Super Bowl LI victory over Atlanta, they went out and loaded up in the off-season to the point that wondering aloud whether the team could go 19-0 was in the cards.
Sure, they wound up falling flat on their faces in the season opener, but combine a 13-3 regular season finish with the fact that New England had the lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII and in hindsight, it was a totally fair question.