Coming off a season that exceeded all expectations, even for the most optimistic fan, the Patriots are walking into 2026 with a target on their back and plenty of eyes watching what they can do this fall.
Because nobody expected they would reach the Super Bowl last year and put themselves right back into the mix within the AFC for the foreseeable future, the assumption was that this season would be their major jump from mediocre to great. Now, they'll just have to continue the ascent they started last year.
They'll be battle-tested early and often, too, starting the season against the Seahawks and facing a brutal schedule that already has most analysts predicting that they won't win the division and maybe won't even make the playoffs.
So it's not entirely surprising that they're already being overlooked ahead of their Super Bowl rematch with the Seahawks on Wednesday night, despite how good they were last year and the massive improvements they've made to the roster this offseason.
In typical Patriots fashion, it should only motivate them further, seeing how much they're being overlooked, adding another chip to their shoulders ahead of a very telling season, and that's exactly how they should interpret the latest game picks ahead of Wednesday's season opener.
The Patriots are still being overlooked ahead of the 2026 season
For the most part, that's what Patriots fans are doing, at least, with the first batch of game picks coming out from NFL Network.
Every analyst chose the Seahawks to come out victors, and it's (obviously) possible that they're right. But it shows the Patriots aren't considered a serious threat in the league, even after the 2025 season they had, and giving them more fuel to the fire can prove dangerous.
Can’t express how much I love to see this pic.twitter.com/CjKirpYlzG
— Drake Maye Lover (@drakemayeloverr) September 2, 2026
You'd think they'd learn that by now.
But as Patriots fans, we'll gladly accept the downplaying of what the team can accomplish in 2026 and use the doubt as motivation moving forward.
It will need to be part of what Mike Vrabel and Co. thrive on if they hope to achieve as much success as possible, especially since they'll be under a microscope for the first time in a long time this season.
They haven't been competitive for five years, so most contenders have dismissed them during that time. But they shouldn't be anymore, and they'll have to prove that as soon as Wednesday night.
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