Patriots given highest projected win total by Las Vegas

The New England Patriots were given a higher projected win total for the upcoming 2019 season than any other team in the NFL.

Heading into the meat of the NFL offseason, the New England Patriots once again reign supreme in the estimation of most NFL savants. CG Technology, Las Vegas’ top sportsbook operating company, released their projected win totals for all 32 NFL teams on Sunday, and the Patriots were listed No. 1 overall with an estimated 11 wins.

Obviously these numbers are fluid and stand to change several more times before the new 2019 season officially kicks off on Thursday, September 5. Next month’s NFL Draft, OTAs, minicamp, training camp, and the preseason are all events and factors that will ultimately play a role in shaping how these lines and projections move in the coming months. Inevitably, there are always unexpected season-ending injuries and trades to take into account as well during the offseason, too.

Still, it’s telling that the Patriots are on top despite losing Rob Gronkowski to retirement and a number of key players in free agency (Trey Flowers, Trent Brown, Cordarrelle Patterson, etc). Vegas giving them the same expected number of wins as they had in 2018 (11-5) is a credit to the consistency the organization has shown over the past 20 years in routinely reloading and adapting as needed to maintain their winning ways.

It also helps that New England gets to play in the AFC East, which has historically been one of the weakest divisions in the league during the Brady/Belichick era. The Miami Dolphins are openly flirting with tanking this season (despite the protestations to the contrary of their new head coach, ex-Patriots defensive guru Brian Flores). The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets were both aggressive in free agency, but both are still clearly inferior in both talent and pedigree than the Patriots.

The Patriots have notably won at least 11 games for nine consecutive seasons now. With Brady at the helm, the team has never had a losing season.

Elsewhere around the league, CG Technology has the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, and New Orleans Saints tied at 10.5 projected wins apiece, good enough for second-place in their forecast totals. The Los Angeles Chargers, who the Patriots beat in the divisional round of last season’s playoffs, are in third place with an estimated 10 wins for the year.

Of the Patriots’ three division rivals, the New York Jets have the highest projected win total at 7. The Buffalo Bills are next with 6, and the Miami Dolphins bring up the rear with just 5 wins projected (tied with the Arizona Cardinals for the lowest total in the league).