NFL
The NFL season that is coming up promises to be one of excitement, and as always, there will
probably be some unpredictable moments in the season ahead. That said, there is a lot of fun to be
had in making some predictions and seeing how the season itself is going to unfold.
The New England Patriots will be hoping to significantly build upon the fact that they reached the
playoffs last season, and rookie QB Mac Jones is one of the reasons the Patriots fans are so excited.
He’s also at the center of many Patriots prop bets for the 2022 season ahead.
Last season was relatively disappointing. The playoffs had the fans starting to get excited but when
they lost 47-17 to the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard round, it was clear that the team was actually quite
a way off the pace. The Bills are expected to have a decent season too.
Okay, we have to mention it – the elephant in the room. Brady has been gone for a couple of years
now, and though there are players stepping into the limelight, can we really ever replace this guy? Will
this be the year that Brady stops playing?
The Patriots’ summer changes
There have been a lot of comings and goings in the summer, as you would expect, and the
cornerback J.C. Jackson has left, along with Ted Karras. Jackson’s statistics are pretty good and he
has an 82.6 PFF grade. It could be the case that they are going to miss him in the coming season.
There have been some potentially good players added to the squad, including Mack Wilson and
DeVante Parker, both of whom came in as a part of trades.
Free agent WR Ty Montgomery is an exciting prospect and it will be interesting to see where he fits in
to the team. James Ferentz was also added.
The draft saw a huge number of players coming in. We’ve shared the draft stats and the players
joining below:
UT-Chattanooga OL Cole Strange (No. 29), Baylor WR Tyquan Thornton (No. 50), Houston CB
Marcus Jones (No. 85), Arizona State CB Jack Jones (No. 121), South Dakota State RB Pierre Strong
(No. 127), Western Kentucky QB Bailey Zappe (No. 137), South Carolina RB Kevin Harris (No. 183),
NW Missouri State DT Sam Roberts (No. 200), LSU center Chasen Hines (No. 210) and Michigan OT
Andrew Stueber (No. 245).
It remains to be seen who will actually have a part in playing for the team moving forward.
Predictions for the upcoming season
The Patriots may have managed 10 wins a year ago, but the win totals for the 2022-23 season have
been set at 8.5 and there is a school of thought that they might struggle to achieve that.
Offensive coordinator changes could play a part here, as they lost Josh McDaniels in the offseason.
The Patriots haven’t actually said who is going to take over at this point, so it is hard to predict what
the season might hold. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, who are already coaching at the team, could take over the duties but
neither of these guys has a track record of offensive coaching. It could be a stroke of genius or it
could be a real worry for Pats fans.
If they don’t get off to a good start, it is likely that the fans will feel like they know exactly who to blame
and things could start to get a little tense.
In terms of the opposition, teams like the Miami Dolphins look like they have done more with their
offseason to move forward significantly, so getting to the playoffs could be a big challenge for the
Patriots.
Much of the success of the team might rest on the young shoulders of Mac Jones. Jones actually
shared the fact that he has been working a lot on his diet and trying to bulk up before the season, and
you can see from some images shared on his partner’s Instagram that he has done just that.
He’s returned to pre-season in amazing shape and the fact is that he is one of the best prospects in
the league, so if he can perform, he might drag the Patriots forward with him. The new signings may
have also improved the defense and the Patriots are actually one of the less predictable teams for the
upcoming season. Time will tell how they will perform in the NFL.
