Angry Tom Brady is bad for the rest of the NFL and other predictions

The start of the season is just hours away. That requires a special 10-Point Stance in which I make mostly nonsensical and dumb predictions, with a few moderately intelligent ones mixed in.
Feel free to throw the predictions in my face later. Happy NFL season and see you in the Hamptons.
1. The Patriots will dominate again
I checked in with a Patriots player I speak to occasionally, this time after a federal judge tossed out Tom Brady's four-game suspension. He was joyous and, as he has been before, succinct. His words were still powerful.
"I think everyone feels like Tom was targeted and this whole thing was personal," the player said. "I think because of that, you're going to see the best Brady you've ever seen."
On the outside, the Patriots promote an image of business and cool. Nothing appears to rattle them. Nothing seems to shake them. They are the steadiest, most disciplined organization in all of sports. No other organization comes close.


This isn't to debate Brady's innocence or guilt. That's been done enough. This is about the aftereffects. I can't emphasize this enough: From the top of the organization to the last man on the roster to the ticket-desk worker to the parking-lot attendant, the Patriots are coming into this season with a feeling that they have been wrongly persecuted.
We've heard this before. I've written this before. But it cannot be stated enough. This is one pissed-off organization.

As a result, I think it'll ride that anger to another Super Bowl. I know, I know. Emotion can only carry you so far. But that emotion is on top of talent. They have Bill Belichick and Brady and a defense that people around the sport keep telling me is better than I think.
The Patriots' season will unfold like this: They will start 5-0 or 4-1, then the Deflated past eight months will finally take their toll at some point in the middle of the season, and an emotionally drained team will lose a couple in a row. After they get past that bump, they will take off like a rocket.
It will all be typical Belichick. Typical Brady. Typical Patriots.
Sorry, Patriots haters. Gonna be a long year for you.