New England Patriots: 6 bold predictions for 2015

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL preseason has a way of speeding by. For the New England Patriots, the end of this very long and distracting offseason is nearing. What better time to make some bold prediction about the 2015 season?

Bold predictions come in all shapes and sizes, but the generally followed rule is that a prediction can be as far-fetched as you’d like as long as a legitimate reason is presented. You won’t find an empty prediction in this slideshow, or anywhere else on Musket Fire for that matter.

I said this in last week’s power rankings, and I’ll say it again: the Patriots must be considered the top dog in the NFL entering the 2015 season. The reasoning is simple; they won the last meaningful game played, thus they must be viewed as the best team until they lose this their first regular season game. The same goes for any Super Bowl winner any other year.

With that in mind, a prediction that the Patriots will make the AFC Championship Game isn’t very bold because the Pats have reached the past four conference title games. On the other hand, it would be bold to say the Jacksonville Jaguars will win 10 games this year. You get the idea.

The first prediction involves one of the league’s most promising young defenders.

Next: 6. Jamie Collins will be DPOY finalist