Admin September 3, 2024
A new era of football is set to begin this coming week for the New England Patriots. The team will be playing its first game in the post-Bill Belichick era.
Jerod Mayo is looking to rebuild the franchise back to being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. There are expected to be some bumps along the road, but there are some quality building blocks already in place.
Of course, the most important building block of them all will be rookie quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye showed flashes of legitimate star potential during the preseason. However, he will not be the Week 1 starting quarterback. Jacoby Brissett ended up winning that job to begin the year.
All of that being said, Bill Simmons, a well-known sports analyst, spoke out and delivered a brutal prediction about the Patriots.
During a segment on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons revealed that he’s taking the under on the 4.5 win total given for New England. He also doubled down with a rough quote about the team.
“My beloved Pats… The worst team I think we’ve had since I was a senior in college”
Simmons did offer a very positive take about the Patriots’ rookie quarterback.
“I love Drake Maye. And the only thing that matters this season is that Drake Maye doesn’t get hurt.”
New England has not received a lot of love from the national media. They’re not expected to win many games and they are expected to have another high draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That pick could actually end up being used on Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter, who the team seems very interested in.
Despite the low predictions they have been receiving, the Patriots will have an opportunity to prove everyone wrong. They’ll use all of the doubt as extra motivation.
All of that being said, it will be interesting to see how the 2024 NFL season unfolds for New England. They have some good talent on the roster, but in all honesty the team doesn’t look like a serious contender.
Coming in under 4.5 wins might be a bit of a reach, but the Patriots will simply need to go out and prove these kinds of takes wrong with their play on the field.