Looking back at the Patriots' 2025 season, there's not much to dislike about what they accomplished, especially if you compare it to how they fared in the five years prior. There was one stain on their season, however: losing the season opener to the Raiders, who went on to win just two more games the rest of the year.
It was a loss that stung for the next 17 weeks and could have derailed their chances at winning the AFC East. It did strip them of the opportunity to hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, but it didn't eliminate them from reaching Super Bowl LX.
For some reason, they haven't had the best luck when facing the Raiders in recent years, because who could forget the infamous Jakobi Meyers' toss to Chandler Jones in the final play of the game to seal the win for Las Vegas from the 2022 season?
Although their most recent quarterback, Geno Smith, doesn't have a great record against the Patriots, he has now signed a contract with the Jets to return to where his career started, and now giving the Patriots a new quarterback to worry about in the division.
Geno Smith's return to the Jets is not something the Patriots were expecting this offseason
His 2025 season was far from impressive, and worrying about his return to the AFC East isn't because he's a top-tier quarterback. But he has had some good luck in his games against New England, which is something to consider when absorbing his New York return.
It's a reunion that was hard to imagine could ever be possible, considering how his tenure ended and everything that transpired during his time there.
But after being cut by the Raiders last week, it's clear Smith was looking to be a starter somewhere, and the Jets make a lot of sense for where they are as a team and where he is at this point in his career.
His 3-3 all-time record against the Patriots will inevitably become a talking point now, with his most recent win last year the most overdiscussed game heading into the 2026 season. However, it makes some sense, considering the vast difference in their teams' trajectories for the rest of the year.