Patriots 2025-26 Season

[Vermont Green]

The Pats were barely able to get by Miami. None of these games are going to be easy for NE. They just aren?t very good on either end of the field right now. Team is just as undisciplined as last year with all the penalties and turnovers.

Nothing is going to be easy but there are clearly some very winnable games coming up there.

enough to make the playoffs?

No.  This is probably a 7-8 win team and you're gonna need around 10 wins to get a wild card.

so if your best case is basically below .500 and out of the playoffs isn't playing the young guys and building to next year the better option, especially if that means a better draft position

I think they are largely doing that.  Just look at the OL.  They have completely reset other than Onwenu.  But you play the best players, try to win every game.  The gradient in draft picks isn't enough to make tanking worth it.  I prefer to see a step forward this year, not another step back.  I think they will do that.

[Donoghus]

The Pats were barely able to get by Miami. None of these games are going to be easy for NE. They just aren?t very good on either end of the field right now. Team is just as undisciplined as last year with all the penalties and turnovers.

Nothing is going to be easy but there are clearly some very winnable games coming up there.

enough to make the playoffs?

No.  This is probably a 7-8 win team and you're gonna need around 10 wins to get a wild card.

so if your best case is basically below .500 and out of the playoffs isn't playing the young guys and building to next year the better option, especially if that means a better draft position

They were a 4 win team last year.  They are a better team this year.  They're not just going to roll over and go into tank mode before we reach October.  There are already some really bad teams shaping up in the NFL this year and the Pats aren't one of them.  7-8 wins is an improvement and a step in the right direction and would be considered a short term success.  It's a multi year rebuild and this would be progress.   That's called building to next year too. 

[johnnygreen]

The Pats were barely able to get by Miami. None of these games are going to be easy for NE. They just aren?t very good on either end of the field right now. Team is just as undisciplined as last year with all the penalties and turnovers.

Nothing is going to be easy but there are clearly some very winnable games coming up there.

The Pats are also a very winnable game on their opponents schedule too.

[Phantom255x]

I'm only tanking if the team is something like 2-9 or 3-10 by then. Otherwise, play it out. I still think this team is better than 2023 and 2024, and the schedule is also easier. It certainly looks a lot more functional including the offense + O-Line, it's just the stupid mistakes need to stop (5 fumbles in a game, come on). Getting Gonzalez back should help the defense too.

It's reminding me a little potentially of 2021. Started 1-3, ended up going 10-7 thanks to an easy schedule and a somewhat stable operation. That team made dumb mistakes, had a meh roster, and were flawed too but they managed around it, and they had McDaniels as OC that year too and the O-Line was solid.