Predictions for the Patriots' 2025 season were all over the place heading into their Week 1 matchup with the Raiders, and that trend has continued in the weeks since, as they enter this week's game against the Panthers with a 1-2 record. Besides the expected struggles for a team in the midst of a rebuild, their biggest problem has been turnovers, which has been an emphasis since their loss to the Steelers last weekend.
With five total turnovers that contributed to their longtime AFC foes' win, a projected no-tolerance policy is in effect for this trend to continue into the season. Ending September with a .500 record is far better than it had looked, and there is hope they can secure their first home win of the season on Sunday.
Prioritizing ball security was a significant part of practice this week, according to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, as Mike Vrabel implemented drills to help improve their biggest weakness every time the team was on the field.
“They have been drilling it constantly. Every practice period had some element of ball security, with ball carriers hammering on technique and everyone else hammering on protecting the guy with the ball. Now it just has to show up.”
The Patriots need to limit their self-sabotage if they hope to win another game in 2025
Watching the Patriots in their first three games, it was clear they were the better team on the field; however, their own mistakes and lack of discipline allowed their opponents to get the best of them. They are fortunate to have won one game, going into this week with a 1-2 record, because they very easily could have been winless instead.
There's a fair argument to be made that they could also have been undefeated, as they were only a play or two away from accomplishing that. However, you could also make the point that they were one or two plays away from losing three straight games.
Much of that is due to turnovers, costly penalties that keep opposing offenses on the field, and inconsistency from the offense. A new system under Josh McDaniels was expected to have some hiccups, as we've seen, but there certainly needs to be a more established identity sooner rather than later, especially if the other problems of the team continue.
They have a good chance to take home another win when the Panthers come to town on Sunday, and there's almost no reason for the Patriots to lose to another beatable team.
Unfortunately, Carolina is coming off a blowout win over the Falcons last week, so momentum is certainly in their favor, and they'll want to prove they aren't a dud of a team, like they have looked for much of the last decade.
So that will put a lot of pressure on the Patriots to get things right this week, and although Vrabel and Co. aren't necessarily in the hot seat, it won't be a good look if they aren't able to lead the team to a second win when the first month of their schedule was not considered very difficult.