The New England Patriots weren't in the top five in any major statistical category in 2014, but they had great balance throughout their recent history, which helped them pick up their fourth Super Bowl win. Many will use deflate-gate to define New England's season, but there is no doubt that they have one of the more complete teams in the league.

The Patriots' 2015 opponents had a 122-134 combined record last season, so they will be expected to make it back to the postseason for the seventh consecutive year.

Home: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins

Away: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants

Here are three of the matchups to keep an eye on:

Buffalo Bills: The Bills look to finally be coming back into relevance and should be New England's top competition in the AFC East. If the Patriots are able to sweep this series, which they weren't able to do last year, there is pretty much no doubt that they will win their division again.

Dallas Cowboys: The Patriots have won four consecutive games against the Cowboys, but these two teams haven't played each other since 2011. It is by far the toughest non-conference opponent on New England's schedule, and it is also a potential Super Bowl preview. Every football fan should be interested in this matchup.

Indianapolis Colts: New England dominated the Colts 42-20 during the regular season last year and 45-7 in the conference championship, so Indianapolis will be coming into their 2015 matchup with revenge on their minds. The Colts will be at home this time around, so this game should be a lot closer.

Read more articles by Guy Bruhn