How do the patriots look this year

Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Why Browns vs. Patriots could have major AFC playoff implications Stephen A. Patriots vs Browns Gillette Stadium -. Offense Defense. Passing Yards. Kyle Dugger , S 56 Sacks 0. Matthew Judon , LB 9 Tackles Passing Yards Rushing Yards Points For Points Against New England. New York. Mac Jones. Christian Barmore. Ronnie Perkins. Rhamondre Stevenson. Cameron McGrone. Joshuah Bledsoe. William Sherman. Tre Nixon. The Chargers have a nice young quarterback in Justin Herbert but the Pats have a veteran-laden defense.

We like those odds. They won 11 games last season and should be good in Cue your joke here. The Falcons have a solid offense but are rebuilding with a new coach. Belichick gives the Patriots a major edge here. This is one of the toughest games on the schedule. The Titans have beaten the Pats in their last two matchups. We think that streak ends this season.

The Bills are good — really good. It happened last year for the first time since and the Bills still look better on paper. This is the game that we've all been waiting for since the official schedule has been released. For the first time as a visitor, Brady will be taking his Buccaneers into Gillette Stadium to face the team he called his own for two decades and helped win six Super Bowl titles.

Tampa Bay comes into this matchup as the defending Super Bowl champions and boasts a loaded roster of essentially the same cast that hoisted a Lombardi a season ago.

If there was ever a regular-season game where Brady was super laser-focused, it's this one. I don't expect this game to be particularly close and could be one of the early periods where Newton's status as the starter is seriously in jeopardy. I've previously listed this as one of the dates to circle where you could see Belichick make the change over to Jones at quarterback.

Under this prediction, however, Belichick keeps Newton as his starter, which is a similar type of loyalty he held for the quarterback last year. This presents a nice opportunity to roll the same unit out there against a Texans squad that could very well find itself at the bottom of the NFL standings once the year is done. A solid bounce-back opportunity here. The Cowboys were not only able to help Dak Prescott return to full health following his season-ending ankle injury a year ago, but they also inked him to a massive contract extension this offseason.

The strength of Dallas will remain on the arm of Prescott and the Cowboys passing attack, but that should play into New England's hand in this matchup.

The Patriots' strength this season is their defense, particularly in the secondary with Stephon Gilmore and newbie Jalen Mills.

I expect that unit to be able to fend off Prescott enough for the offense to control the ball on the ground and grind out a win. This game is one of three instances this season where the Patriots will be facing an opponent who is coming off their bye.

Luckily for them, the Jets are still not at the level in their rebuild where they can take full advantage of this. New England takes the season series in a relatively uneventful matchup. For more information about our data practices consult our Privacy Policy. Another opponent who was resting up prior to this head to head. Not only that, but the Patriots need to fly across the country for this matchup with Los Angeles.

A year ago, Belichick and Co. This time, it's the Chargers who have their way with the Pats as Justin Herbert continues to impress under center during his second season in the league.

Despite making the change to Carolina, the young quarterback still can't get into the win column against New England, who leans on its defense to carry the team to a bounce-back victory after a rough showing out in Los Angeles the week prior. This could also prove to be a strong day for the Patriots on the ground after the Panthers surrendered yards rushing per game last year. Cleveland enters this season after taking positive strides in that included reaching the playoffs for the first time since Baker Mayfield should only improve as he rolls through his second season under head coach Kevin Stefanski and the Browns will likely be a significant player in the AFC.

With their combination of a strong passing game with Mayfield and a lethal running game starring Nick Chubb , the Browns have a well-balanced offense that should give the Patriots problems.

Cue the jokes! That said, you better get them in while you can as Matt Ryan and the Falcons are able to get the last laugh in this prime-time matchup on "Thursday Night Football.