Only eight short years ago, the New England Patriots found themselves in a pretty similar situation as they do now. Back then the team was caught up in the Spygate debacle; this year there’s Deflategate. The Patriots are certainly no stranger to controversy, and unfortunately for the NFL they’re also no stranger to strong responses. That response could make the Patriots the most cutthroat team in the league in 2015, and one teams should be bracing themselves for.

After the penalties for Spygate were handed down in Week 2 of the 2007 season, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady decided to go ballistic on every opponent they faced. And did they ever — the Patriots ended the regular season with a record-high 589 points and had six games where they scored more than 40 points. Brady tossed 50 touchdowns, 23 of them going to Randy Moss, and the team finished with 75 touchdowns.

Riding those ridiculous offensive stats, the Patriots won out the regular season and two playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. And even though the team couldn’t seal the deal and win it all in that final game, the way they got there was historically remarkable. It’s very possible we could see the same thing happen this year. A lot of the components are in place: Rob Gronkowski replaces the stud presence of Moss, Julian Edelman is basically a Wes Welker clone and Brandon LaFell is a great third component. The same quarterback and head coach are still there.

Most importantly, though, the same sentiment is there. They keep a good lid on things up there in Foxborough, but you best believe the Patriots are mad. They took Spygate as a pretty brutal insult and made it their mission to prove a point. Deflategate is doing the same thing in 2015 — it challenges the legitimacy and credibility of their success. Belichick and Brady didn’t stand for it in 2007, and I doubt they’re going to stand by quietly as it happens again.

Belichick’s offensive setup has the Patriots built to score points in large chunks. Depending on their opponent, he usually has enough restraint to not immediately go for the jugular all the time. But we’ve seen how ruthless he and Brady can be when they want to be, and I can’t see any good reason why they wouldn’t do the same thing now. The pieces are there to pull it off, and I have to believe the anger is there too. We don’t know exactly when Brady will hit the field in 2015, but when he does, watch out. Anyone in the Patriots’ way could be in for a long, long game.

Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.  Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.