New England Patriots after Tom Brady: Can they still win the Super Bowl?

There a not a lot of NFL fans that thought the post-Tom Brady New England Patriots were going to be as successful as the Brady-led versions, but there they are, with the league’s longest current winning streak (seven) and steam-rolling to the AFC’s top seed in the elongated 17-game season.

But why? And how? And more importantly, how long? There is betting on the Super Bowl to be done and even two months out from if, questions need to be answered.

The Why is easy. The league’s best old coach (Bill Belichick) and it’s best rookie quarterback (Mac Jones). As the late Bum Phillips might say, Bill can “take his’n and best your’n, and then he can turn around and take your’n and best his’n.” He is like a master chef that makes a gourmet meal around whatever is laying around in his kitchen, except his ingredients are all pretty good to begin with.

Enter Mac Jones, the QB drafted out of the Alabama (the closest thing the college level has to an NFL team) and Billy B. has worked his gridiron magic again.

Throw in the steady running of third-year veteran Damien Harris (9 touchdowns) and a defense that has shut the door at the goal line for the last month-and-a-half (36 points in 5 games) and you have the recipe for yet another title celebration dinner in Boston.

It doesn’t hurt that there is no dominant team in the league (The Arizona Cardinals? Please!) . . . Or that the one real AFC almost-dynasty (Kansas City Chiefs) stumbled out of the gate . . . Or that the Brady-led defending champion Bucs have managed to fumble away a couple of games to much less-talented opponents.

It is mid-December. The train heading to the Vince Lombardi Trophy is chugging down the tracks quickly and the Patriots seem quite comfortable in the locomotive seat.

Getting to the line at the Pats' Super Bowl betting window is well worth the trip.