While many aren’t exactly bullish on the New England Patriots’ chances in 2020 following widespread offseason departures headlined by Tom Brady, it would be silly to think the Pats will be an abject disaster this season.
ESPN’s metric for measuring teams on paper, for what it’s worth, has some seemingly reasonable expectations for New England in 2020.
The network on Tuesday released its “Football Power Index” rankings for the upcoming season. The FPI “measures team’s true strength on net points scale; expected point margin vs average opponent on neutral field.”
The Patriots ended up ninth in the league for 2020, with 8.6 projected wins and a 60-percent chance of reaching the playoffs. They were tied with the Buffalo Bills, who had the same projected wins total and percent chance of reaching the postseason.
While those win totals might seem low for a playoff team, it’s worth keeping in mind FPI win totals generally are low. For example, the No. 1 team, the Kansas City Chiefs, only are projected for 11.2 wins.
Also of note, Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one spot above the Patriots in eighth place with 9.1 projected wins and a 63-percent chance of making the playoffs.
