The Patriots Were the NFL's 10th Oldest Team in 2014

There was a random stat after the Super Bowl that said that New England was the youngest team to ever win a Super Bowl. The math behind the calculation was never made known and the age offered was an impossibility based on the Patriots roster.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is old. So is starting left guard Dan Connolly. And former starting defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, and former starting cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Darrelle Revis.

Yes, there is youth in key places, like with linebackers Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower, but if you look across that championship team, you'll notice that there were very few young contributors over the course of the season. Collins and rookie center Bryan Stork were the only two players of the past two drafts to become starters in 2014.

A better method of determining a team's age is to consider how much time each player sees the field. And when you weight the roster's age by playing time, the Patriots skyrocket to one of the oldest teams in the league with an adjusted age of 27.0.

Football Outsider's Scott Kacsmar calculated the snap-weighted ages and the Patriots were the 10th oldest team in the league, including the 5th oldest offense. The defense was the 19th oldest, which is a positive and reflects how well youth has been integrated into that unit.

If the Patriots want to continue their streak of success, they'll have to focus on getting younger on the offensive side of the ball, specifically on the offensive interior with a replacement for Dan Connolly. If you look across the board, though, it doesn't seem as if the offense is too old; with Connolly off the roster, Brady and Sebastian Vollmer are the only starters over the age of 29. In reality, the offense is entering its prime.