ESPN Analyst Offers This Bold Prediction For Patriots Season

ESPN analyst Matt Bowen could have gone in any direction he wanted to with his bold prediction pick for the New England Patriots for the upcoming season.

Centering it around second-year quarterback Mac Jones would have been a popular choice or selecting an unlikely player to blossom into a top-tier talent would have worked as well.

But Bowen went a different route. Instead for his bold prediction, he believes the Patriots will miss the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.

“The Patriots are going through a major transition in offensive philosophy after the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels,” Bowen wrote. “Also, the lack of team speed is visible versus the NFL’s top competition. In a loaded AFC, I don’t see the Patriots as a playoff team.”

Given how turbulent New England’s training camp was at times and all the uncertainty surrounding the offense, especially with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge heavily involved on that side of the ball, picking them to miss the playoffs isn’t really a dramatic bold prediction — it’s definitely not going out on a limb.

DraftKings Sportsbook even has the Patriots failing to make the playoffs as the more likely outcoming than them getting the chance to experience the postseason. DraftKings set the odds of the Patriots appearing in the playoffs at +160 while betting them to watch the postseason from home has -200 odds. That means a $100 bet on them being one of the seven teams in the AFC playoff field would net a total of $260 while that same size bet on them missing out on the playoffs would only payout $150. That’s certainly a significant difference.

The Patriots falling shy of the playoffs seems to be a growing sentiment, and Bowen picking that as his bold prediction only further cements that.