While the New England Patriots locked up the NFC East with a 24-17 win over the Buffalo Bills last week, they aren't exactly a team everyone is labeling as the Super Bowl favorite. The 12-3 Patriots have been prone to inconsistencies this season. While the defense has been impressive, the run game is not what it was last year and Tom Brady is clearly missing Rob Gronkowski on offense.

Still, the Patriots were able to turn around what was perceived to be a subpar campaign into a Super Bowl championship last year, and it could happen again in 2019. They will need someone to step up in a big way on offense, however, and it could be former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.

The Patriots gave up a second-round pick for Sanu in late October, a pretty high price for someone who has caught just 23 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown in seven games in New England this season. He started out pretty fast with his new team, catching 10 balls for 81 yards and a touchdown in Week 9 during the 37-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but he hasn't recorded more than 24 receiving yards in a game since. Despite the recent struggles, Sanu knows better days are ahead of him in the Patriots' offense.

"I haven't really scratched the surface yet of what I know I can do," Sanu said, via ESPN. "Getting adjusted to things people have known for years, or months, you have to catch up. It's a lot of little details of things. I've been getting right up to speed. It's just little things you can't teach; they just have to be done. It's the difference between knowing and doing."

While he's 30-years-old, Sanu is actually coming off of one of his best seasons in the NFL. In 2018, he caught 66 passes for a career-high 838 yards and four touchdowns. He's someone who can be a leader for young wideouts like N'Keal Harry and Jakobi Meyers, and is more than hungry to contribute to a team who would like to register back-to-back championships.

"You have no idea. It's not something you can explain," Sanu said. "You put a lot of work into something, a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices, and the time you put in, you want the same result from it."