Dan Pompei

The Patriots took the best shot of every opponent in 2007, playing some of the best, most consistent football ever and never showing a crack until the final game.

They were served one of the most crushing defeats in modern NFL history in Super Bowl XLII, losing to the 12-point underdog Giants.

They spent most of the offseason staving off the yapping hounds of Spygate.

Now that training camp is here, the Patriots can finally exhale. Or collapse.

We all know teams that lose the Super Bowl typically lose a lot more the following season. And if the Patriots do fall apart, well, they'll have some convenient excuses.

But if there is one mark of the Belichick era Patriots, it is resiliency. This is a team that knows how to play the hand that it is dealt, and a team that knows how to adjust to every adversity.

The key for the Patriots will be to forget about the past—all of it. The record setting season, the nightmare Super Bowl, the marathon of a drama that Spygate turned out to be. They need to look at training camp as an escape from all of it, and a new beginning.

If they can do that, this team is capable of achieving everything it did a year ago. And maybe even more.

Hot seat
It will take one of Bill Belichick's best coaching performances to get the Patriots to rebound from all they have been through.

He will need to find new ways to motivate a team that has done it all. He will have to come up with a way to deal with the kinds of pressure packages the Giants used so effectively in the Super Bowl. He must find a way to shore up a defense that has lost its best cornerback.

And he will need to prove to his critics that he is capable of outcoaching his opposing coaches without the benefit of videotape.

Of course, Belichick will relish this challenge. The pressure won't bother him a bit. And he will find a way to insulate his team from it as well.

Overheard at camp
The Patriots might have lost Asante Samuel, Randall Gay and Eugene Wilson from their secondary, but they gained Dom Capers. The former head coach of the Texans and Panthers is taking over the Patriots defensive backs, who will need every bit of his considerable expertise.

Belichick has praised Capers for his attention to fundamentals, and that will be important given the fact that the Patriots have so few players who are well versed in their defense. Among the defensive backs who are expected to contribute are rookies Terrence Wheatley and Jonathan Wilhite, second year man Brandon Meriweather and newcomers Fernando Bryant, Lewis Sanders, Jason Webster and Tank Williams.

Comings and goings
Everyone knew the Patriots needed to get younger at linebacker. They addressed the problem by using their first round draft pick on Jerod Mayo, their third round pick on Shawn Crable and signing free agent Victor Hobson from the rival Jets. Hobson may be 28, but next to 39-year old Junior Seau, he's barely out of diapers.

The Patriots were able to re-sign wide receiver Randy Moss, whose contract was up. But they lost another receiver, Donte Stallworth. That means the team will be counting on Chad Jackson and Kelley Washington to pick up the production.

Prediction
It's never a good idea to bet against the Patriots. Especially when their backs are against the wall.

Tom Brady is at the peak of his abilities, and we might not have seen the best of him yet. He has many weapons at his disposal, including a deep group of running backs and a deeper group of tight ends.

The defense is really strong up front, and versatile enough to confuse offenses.

No one can ever expect 19 wins, but expecting 13 from this group is not out of line.

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