The New England Patriots entered the offseason after a drubbing at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. It was a humiliating defeat, 29-13, in a game that wasn't nearly that close. All-Pro quarterback Drake Maye had an injured right throwing shoulder, and along with a leaky offensive line that gave up six sacks, the Patriots were outclassed by a better Seattle team.
Facing Seattle again in Week 1 should provide plenty of motivation for a Patriots team that had two of its most important players, Maye and left tackle Will Campbell, playing through injuries in the Super Bowl. The national media still doesn't seem sold, though.
In a recent NFL.com article, Ali Bhanpuri and Tom Blair predicted how each NFL team will fare in 2026. Neither thinks the Patriots will make the playoffs.
"Week 1's Super Bowl rematch should tell us plenty about the 2026 Patriots," Bhanpuri wrote. "Perhaps I'm a prisoner of the moment, but I'm not convinced they've done enough to prevent a repeat of February's beatdown. As important as first impressions are, though, New England's AFC title defense will truly be tested near midseason, when the club finds the caliber of its opponents to be far more difficult this season than it was during the same stretch last year. We're going against the grain here in slashing the Pats' win total nearly in half from last season's mark."
The Patriots are already hearing plenty of doubts after their Super Bowl defeat
The Patriots' Achilles heel last season was their offensive line, and their mediocrity came to a head in the Super Bowl when they surrendered six sacks to the Seahawks. Allowing 47 regular-season sacks, and another 21 in the playoffs, required significant offseason changes.
Four starters from the 2025 unit return in 2026, with one, Jared Wilson, switching positions from left guard to center, a position he hasn't played in the NFL. Taking his place at left guard is Alijah Vera-Tucker. He's a solid player, but he's been injury-prone over his five-year career and didn't play a snap in 2025 due to injury. The other three linemen remain the same.
The team did make one celebrated move in the offseason to help. That was drafting Utah left tackle Caleb Lomu in the first round. He should provide insurance for both Campbell and veteran right tackle Morgan Moses.
If A.J. Brown officially arrives in Foxborough via trade next month, the Patriots will suddenly have one of the NFL's top wide receiver duos in Brown and newcomer Romeo Doubs. The defensive secondary should also get a boost from the addition of ball-hawking safety and first-team All-Pro Kevin Byard III.
The Patriots better hope they did enough to address their offensive line issues. That's why NFL.com's prediction can't be completely dismissed by fans.
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