The New England Patriots are coming off the greatest dynasty of all-time, with the group led by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and after an amazing six Super Bowl victories, it's always going to be a tough pill to swallow to move on and start fresh from that. Bill is still the Head Coach, but the rest of the squad feels brand new, and if the Patriots want to continue finding success, they'll need to see some major growth and improvement in 2022 from some of their key building blocks.
Positives
The biggest positive in New England is that one of, if not the single best coach in league history remains on their sidelines in charge of this squad, as Bill has become notorious over the years for getting the absolute best out of all of his players. The defense also has plenty of potential, and if the offence can hold its own in 2022, this may be a team that surprises a lot of people, and returns to the playoffs yet again under Coach Belichick.
Negatives
While the Patriots of old didn't always have star weapons (excluding Randy Moss for part of their run), what they did have was a Quarterback that was able to make them all better, and while Mac Jones isn't a bad QB by any stretch, he's just not on that level yet. 2021 was a good year for Mac, but this years schedule is brutal, and the AFC as a whole has gotten much, much better, meaning that without stars around him, No. 10 could take a major step back in production in 2022.
Team MVP
It must still feel weird for Patriots fans that saw Tom Brady as the team MVP for the past 20 years, but this team still has plenty of talent. In 2022 however, it will be stud linebacker Matthew Judon, who made a massive impact in 2021 in his first season with the Patriots after a great 5 years with the Baltimore Ravens. The sack numbers have been consistently good for years, and if New England wants to find any success in 2022, it will come from the defensive side of the ball, who are primarily led by Judon and his aggressive style of play.
Record Preditction
After such a successful stretch, it may be hard for Patriots fans to witness a drop off, but with the level of competition in the AFC East and the wider AFC, it's just very hard to see them making a genuine run at the 2022 playoffs. With the lack of weapons and significant veterans on the offensive side of the ball, as of right now, 6 wins is the prediction for the New England Patriots in 2022.
Photo Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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