Welcome back to Pat on Sports, our staff (me) has done a lot of work (AI did it in ten minutes) to give the site a fresh new look for the season. While AI will do all of the coding and design work, it will never write a single word I write on this site. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Let’s start with a look back at the 2025 Cinderella Season for the New England Patriots
2025 Season Recap
No one expected the 2025 New England Patriots to go to the Super Bowl and let’s be honest they were not ready for a game of that magnitude. Drake Maye is still very young, the offensive line was young (two rookies starting on the left side, one out of position) and banged up, and we had limited offensive weapons. Our defense put up a valiant effort to keep us in the game but the offense was painful to watch. I had been saying all year that this team reminded me of the 1996 Patriots and I was correct (unfortunately). The 1996 Patriots were also a young over achieving team that was fortunate to make the Super Bowl. If the 1996 Broncos had not gotten upset by the Jaguars in the divisional round, they may have been the first team ever to three-peat (they won the super bowl the next two years). Playing the Broncos in the 90’s was hopeless and always turned out to be a miserable day for a young boy in New England who lived and died with the Patriots. A lot had to go right for this team too:
- Patrick Mahommes got hurt and he will be back this year. Any team that has Mahommes has a chance to win the Super Bowl
- Bo Nix got hurt for the championship game. It is unlikely we win a game in Denver with Nix as the starter
- Bills & Ravens had a down year by their standards
I expect all of those teams to be better this year but the good news is the Patriots have gotten a lot better. Let’s recap the offseason and look ahead to the 2026 Season…
Offseason Recap
The Vrabel Situation
I won’t spend too much time on this but this sucked. In an offseason filled with exciting moves for the roster, this was a dark cloud that hung over the team for multiple months. I have a bad feeling there will be some more “breaking news” during the season right once the Patriots start to make a run. Hopefully this whole thing is in the past.
The Offensive Line
Everyone knew the Patriots needed to improve the offensive line after last season, the question was how drastic of a change do they need to make. There seemed to be two camps, one that wanted to bring Campbell back at tackle but add a couple pieces around him and the other camp that wanted to move him to guard and sign/trade for a proven tackle. It is clear that Campbell has the backing of the coaching staff and I definitely believe that his poor play in the playoffs was due in part to his knee injury. Campbell did have his struggles during the season with pass protection but I always thought he blocked well on the run. After he came back from the injury, we saw a lot less of the drive blocks that resulted in the pancakes that we were used to seeing earlier in the season. Starting two rookies next to each other on the left side (Wilson playing out of position at Guard) is never going to be perfect and I am hoping that Wilson & Campbell will improve in year two, especially with Wilson going back to his natural position of Center.
My issue is I don’t feel 100% comfortable with the plan. Here is what makes me nervous:
- The Pat’s big offseason move was signing Alijah Vera-Tucker an “on paper” it is a home run. Signing a veteran guard and former top 15 pick to play next to Campbell sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered! The issue is he gets hurt every single year and missed the entire season last year with a torn triceps. If he gets hurt again this year are we right back where we started?
- I THINK that Will Campbell can be a starting left tackle in this league. After the super bowl, I watched dozens of film analysis videos on X explaining how Campbell needs to play tackle differently, use more jumps and play like Terron Armstead seemed to be the main theme of the feedback. From what I gathered, his issues are fixable if he puts in the work. The thing is, I’m not invested in Campbell playing tackle, I want the Patriots to win a super bowl and to do that they need five solid starters on the offensive line. All of Campbell’s issues are instantly solved if he moves to guard (which was a position we needed to fill) and we are one step closer to locking down the offensive line. Going with Campbell at tackle again this year is a bold bet and major vote of confidence from the coaching staff as this team only has so many seasons with Maye on a rookie deal. Everything changes once he signs for big money and this year is our last shot at it. I hope they are right.
A.J Brown, Romeo Doubs, Kayshon Boutte and the WR’s
Landing A.J. Brown was the dream move of all Patriot’s fans this offseason and the team pulled it off! Diggs was great last year at times, but he is not the player he was ten years ago and Brown + Doubs instantly makes this team very dangerous in the passing game. Adding A.J. Brown is a throwback to the early-mid 00’s where the Pats seemed to sign a hungry veteran each offseason to inject some hunger into the team. I have loved watching all of the Brown vs. Gonzalez videos and I think Brown is poised for a major resurgence this season. I have very very high hopes for the offense: Brown + Doubs + Henry + Stevenson + Henderson + (Hollins, Douglas, Chism/Williams, and Eli Raridon) is the best set of weapons the Patriots have had in almost ten years. Yes, it’s been ten years.
Unfortunately, this meant that the team did trade away Kayshon Boutte who had flashes of greatness last season and had become something of a fan favorite. Am I surprised by the trade? No. Boutte is good but the writing was on the wall the day the Pats traded for Brown. Brown does everything Boutte does except better. In your wildest, wildest dream where Boutte realizes all of his potential and becomes the player you think he will become, he would be AJ Brown. Now did I think we would trade for a safety? No, but this team does weird stuff with safeties and after last season I am just going to trust them. Anyway, on to the defense
Patriots Defense: The old reliable
There isn’t too much to say about the defense and that’s ok. They were great last year and if they play the same way and the offense gets better the patriots are going to have an excellent season. The defensive line is full of studs, the linebackers are captained by Spillane and seem to always get the job done, we still have Gonzalez (for now), Davis and Jones at corner, and this coaching staff seems to know what they are looking for at safety. Last year I thought we had two studs at safety (Dugger & Peppers) but we traded them both away, started Woodson & Hawkins, and everything seemed to work out just fine. Until I see evidence of something that is broken I am just going to trust the coaching staff and see how it goes.
My Prediction for the Season
The popular opinion a few months ago was that the Patriots would come back to earth this season due to the schedule. I would agree if we had brought back the same team. There is no doubt the patriots benefitted from an easy schedule last season + lots of luck. The issue with that prediction is that the Patriots have gotten better this offseason, a lot better. I think the Patriots will have a similar record, let’s say 12 wins this year, and win the division again. The main obstacle to getting to the Super Bowl will be the winner of the AFC West. Let’s assume my prediction is correct and the Patriots are a contender again, their number one objective will be to get the 1 seed or at least pray that the AFC West winner finishes below them in the standings. Even with the improved roster, I do not want to go into Arrowhead or Mile High stadium in the playoffs. Regardless, the Patriots are a real football team again and I cannot wait for another year of football!
