The NFL released the 2024 season schedules on Wednesday, and even though it had been known the Patriots would have a difficult road, how their schedule was constructed made it even more challenging.
They'll have many factors working against them, the main one being a Week 14 bye week and a final stretch of games that feature the Bills twice in three weeks. This adds even more pressure to the new regime led by Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf, who are expected to put the team in a better position to win moving forward.
On top of it all, the Patriots will have more than a handful of essential games for one reason or another that could dictate the rest of their season.
Whether it's the timing of the game, the opponent they're facing, or the ramifications of a win or loss, there are at least six games they should have circled on their calendars that give them a bit more motivation to get a win.
Ranking the 6 most important games of the Patriots 2024 schedule
6. Week 15 @ Cardinals
Of the six games deemed the most important of the upcoming season, it might be surprising to see the Patriots heading to the desert considered to be one of them. However, it's not the opponent that makes this game important; it's when it is played.
Unfortunately, New England was dealt a Week 14 bye. It's the last week any team can have a bye, and of course, the Patriots just had to be one of them. When they return for the Week 15 game, they'll face the Cardinals.
To get things back on track for the final three games, it would be ideal for them to go home with a win from this game, especially since they'll have two tough matchups in three weeks to close the season against the Bills.
At this point in the year, the Patriots could be vying for a playoff spot, even if most fans don't believe they will be that soon. But if we're going to be optimistic, it's another factor that makes it even more crucial they beat the Cardinals.
Regardless, after playing 13 straight games and finally having a week to relax, it would be a great way to set the tone for the rest of the season by getting a win in the game after their bye.
5. Week 7 @ Jaguars
In keeping with recent tradition, the Patriots will travel to London to face the Jaguars in Week 7 at Wembley Field. Given where it's being played and the Jaguars seemingly becoming England's NFL team, it will inevitably be a big game, but also because it could serve as a revenge game for New England.
They won't be seeking revenge against the Jaguars, but they want to prove they aren't a joke of a team the way they looked in Germany against the Colts last season. It was one of their worst games of the year, and they had to fly back home, embarrassed by their performance.
It was a game that brought on a lot of drama, which some say may have been the final straw for Mac Jones in Bill Belichick's eyes.
Now, they'll have a chance at redemption with a new head coach and staff and an improved roster, which hopefully will give them a much better shot at getting the win. That makes it an important game, and it being one of only two national games for them this season adds to it.
4. Week 3 @ Jets
The Patriots have historically dominated the New York Jets organization and hope to continue doing so for many more years. That remains the expectation, but now, with Aaron Rodgers in the mix, there is a sense that their ruling over their AFC East rival may be over.
They didn't get a chance to play against the quarterback last year because he suffered a season-ending injury on the first play of their opening game, but he is expected to return for Week 1 action this year, and most have already named the Jets a Super Bowl favorite because of it.
If that is the path the Jets go on, it would be important for the Patriots to get a win against them early on, especially in Week 3 when they visit the Jets. Getting a win on the road is never expected to be easy, even more so when a future Hall of Fame quarterback is lined up on the other side.
So, if they can leave New York with the win and ensure the Jets can't sweep them for the first time ever, there are not many things more important than that.
It's their only real primetime game of the season, too, so proving the doubters wrong on a nationally televised game would be pretty sweet.
3. Week 1 @ Bengals
The expectation heading into Week 1 is to get a win for nealy every team. For the Patriots, it will be even more critical as they navigate through a new era in Foxboro and are set to face an incredibly challenging schedule the rest of the way.
Visiting the Bengals, who were in the Super Bowl in 2021 and made the AFC Championship in 2022, won't be an easy start to a season whatsoever. It will be a tall task to take down one of the leading teams in the AFC especially an offense with as much firepower as the Bengals have.
But one thing that might work in the Patriots' favor is that it's Week 1. No team is playing their best football yet, and "any given Sunday" feels more applicable that early in a season. If they can take advantage of that and come out swinging to star the year, they could sneak out a shocking win.
It would be the ultimate tone-setter for Jerod Mayo's first season and be quite a difference from the struggling team the Patriots were nearly all of last year.
2. Week 18 vs. Bills
The final three weeks of the Patriots schedule are going to be a rough one. They play the Bills in Buffalo and end the season at home against the Chargers in Week 17 and the Bills again in Week 18.
Both games against Buffalo will be essential to win, but because it's been nearly impossible for New England to win against them on the road, the assumption is that it will continue again in 2024. So, getting the win when the Bills come to their stadium needs to happen even more.
Like getting a win against the Jets in New York, it would also mean the Bills don't sweep the Patriots two years in a row.
Other than that being a satisfying accomplishment, if they somehow become contenders for the postseason, making the road a bit more difficult for the Bills would be the best-case scenario.
1. Week 5 vs. Dolphins
Yes, that's right; it's another divisional game, and this time, it's considered the most important game to win this season.
The Dolphins' and Patriots' Week 5 matchup will be their first meeting of the season, with the game in Miami not happening until much later in the year (Week 12). Assuming they will remain cursed when traveling to South Beach, getting a win against the second-best team in the division at home is crucial.
It could add more wrinkles to the AFC playoff picture, especially for the three other teams in the AFC East, and would lower the hype surrounding them a few notches.
It would prove the Patriots can be a legit threat to the division and not a team that should be slept on, which is how they're being labeled five months before the season even begins.