It is beyond clear that the Patriots have a lot of fixing they need to do during the upcoming NFL season if they want to be an improved, or better yet, a competitive team once again.
Mike Vrabel and the new regime attempted to change some of the biggest concerns with the roster by adding some top-name talent in free agency and the draft, and based on what was seen during the preseason, it appears that much of it worked.
However, several other issues need to be addressed, but they won't become much of a factor until Week 1 begins. Unfortunately, the preseason finale didn't bring much optimism that the much-needed changes will happen.
The most concerning part of all? Players getting in their own way and making winning nearly impossible with avoidable mistakes. That has plagued them over the last few years, and it reared its ugly head against the Giants last Thursday night.
The Patriots cannot afford to make the same mistake that doomed their 2024 season
One of the moments that stood out the most against the Giants was an impressive forced fumble by Jack Gibbens, which Jabrill Peppers then recovered. It was an easy turnover for the Patriots, but due to an avoidable penalty by Jordan Polk, it was canceled out.
Jack Gibbens forced a fumble, and Jabrill Peppers recovered it. However, Jordan Polk was called for defensive holding.
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 22, 2025
Those are the kind of issues the team consistently created for themselves last year, resulting in pushed back downs, negated big plays, and more.
That cannot be something that defines this team in 2025, or else they have a lot further to go than they had hoped they'd be under the watchful eye of Mike Vrabel. Penalties will inevitably happen, but the avoidable mistakes that only make their job harder cannot become the crux of their season.
With one of the easiest schedules in the league and a much-improved roster, it's unsurprising that there is talk of the Patriots being a sneaky postseason team. They can easily live up to that and even accomplish it by not getting in their own way, and it would appear they have that kind of discipline in the building again.
But we'll have to wait and see if they can pull it off. The hope is that they have a head coach again who won't look the other way when they make outlandish mistakes, so it won't be repeated behavior like we saw last season.