After Tom Brady left and Bill Belichick was let go, the Patriots fell to the bottom of the NFL, making their dominant dynasty years feel like a distant memory. In professional sports, it usually takes several years to recover from that, or decades if you're a team like the Jets, but Robert Kraft's decision to hire Mike Vrabel paid off in just one season.
The new head coach, a strong coaching staff, and a solid young quarterback led to Vrabel's first year in New England ending with a Super Bowl appearance. And although they didn't win the seventh Lombardi Trophy, it was still an impressive feat for a team coming off back-to-back seasons with just four wins.
As a result, the Patriots were expected to be far more featured in 2026, with a first-place schedule and more fans wanting to see how they would fare in Year 2 under Vrabel.
When the schedule came out and they were given five primetime slots, it confirmed they were back on track and that the league was rewarding them for their improved performance.
It didn't feel like that against the Seahawks last week, despite their need to avenge the team that just beat them in the Super Bowl seven months ago. But that hasn't deterred the networks from featuring them in a big way, as they are currently slated to have the A-Team in the booth for their matchup against the Steelers next week.
The Patriots are already being featured like a top team in the NFL this season
CBS announced Monday morning that its top commentary duo, Jim Nantz and J.J. Watt, will be on hand for the Patriots' home opener next week, proving they are back on the league's radar and fans want to see what they're made of.
It shines a lot on the young team after a disastrous effort against the reigning champions last week, and hopefully they learned enough from that game not to repeat their costly mistakes, especially in front of their home fans.
If they do, it will only be magnified having the A Team in the booth, making the entire thing feel that much worse.
But this team has proven resilient, and they certainly won't want their performance against the Seahawks to dictate the rest of 2026 or how teams view them this season. They should be considered a legitimate threat not only in the AFC but in the league, but they'll need a big bounce-back effort against the Seahawks next Sunday.
It won't be easy, given that this team is led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and has a packed offense led by receivers D.K. Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. The defense will have its challenges in slowing them down, and historically, they haven't been too good at that with Metcalf specifically, so they'll have to overcome that fairly quickly.
On top of that, the pressure to avoid a 0-2 start will hopefully motivate them to get the win even more, rather than work against them, and go into a big-time matchup against the Jaguars in Week 3 with a .500 record.
This game's result will reflect who they are in 2026 and how the rest of the year will likely go, so if the Patriots want to be competitive, they need to make better decisions this week. Otherwise, their season might be over before it even began.
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