The Patriots aren't going to boatrace many -- if any -- teams en route to a deep playoff run this season. New England simply doesn't have the firepower that some of the Tom Brady-led teams did in the past.
So if the Patriots are going to play deep into January this NFL season, they might have to turn most of their games into rock fights.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell suggested as much in his latest column where he put together a Super Bowl blueprint for every team in the league. Barnwell made it clear that the 2022 Patriots probably aren't going to see a team that you'll see very often on highlight reels.
"FPI (perhaps blessedly) doesn't know about the coaching storylines in New England, where Bill Belichick seems to be turning over offensive playcalling to the duo of Joe Judge and Matt Patricia," Barnwell wrote. "After a preseason in which reports out of Patriots camp compared the offense to something out of the Sam Darnold era in New York, there's not much optimism for quarterback Mac Jones taking a leap forward in Year 2. At the very least, it seems like the Patriots will take some time to grow comfortable on offense in 2022.
"Belichick's defense finished fourth in DVOA and should carry the offense through the leaner parts of September and October, although New England let star corner J.C. Jackson leave in free agency and lost returning veteran Malcolm Butler to injured reserve. Patriots games probably won't be pretty, but if they can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, their fans won't mind."
We should gain some idea of what the Patriots' identity will be when they open their regular-season slate in Miami against the Dolphins. The Week 1 matchup between division rivals is set to kick off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
