Don’t Read Into The Patriots First Two Games (Here’s Why)

Going into their week three matchup with the New Orleans Saints, the New England Patriots sit at 1-1.

While everyone is turning up their noses at the haters as if to say, “see, we’re not as bad as you thought” Patriots fans shouldn’t get too excited, but also shouldn’t be too deflated at the same time, and here’s a few reasons why.

The first reason is the division they sit in. Sure, the AFC East is not always the hottest of hotbeds for playoff spot competition with one team generally running away with the division (i.e. the Patriots during the Tom Brady era), but this year looks to be a bit different.

Every team with one exception (yes, we’re looking at you Jets fans) is tied for first place with a 1-1 record. Yes, I know it’s early on in the season, but it appears that it is going to come down to not just the final record, but head-to-head records.

The second reason is the Patriots identity. With two division games down and six to go, they have time to figure out exactly who they are with Mac Jones running the offense before the important games come into play.

In the first two games, New England has a point-differential of 41 points for and 23 against. While it may not surprise everyone that they have scored such little points, what is most surprising is that it trails fellow first-placer Buffalo Bills total by only 10 points.

So far Jones has only thrown one touchdown pass, which is to be expected, adjusting to the NFL and all, but what is surprising is the lack of an aerial attack.

After a lackluster performance from Cam Newton to say the least in 2020, Patriots fans thought they found a quarterback who could throw; however, his longest pass is only 32 yards. Not exactly sustainable to have your defense carrying you in today’s NFL.

The third reason, is that while New England has looked good, they’re biggest tests are yet to come.

They’ve been pretty stout defensively, and they have a relatively tame test in the Drew Brees-less Saints, but then comes the big test with Brady coming home to New England, the Dallas Cowboys two weeks later, then the Los Angeles Chargers on the road. The kicker here? Only one of those is one against a division opponent and it’s a rematch with the Jets.

Sure, there are only three of six games listed in there to be scared of, but let’s speculate here and say the Patriots win 5 of the 6, or on the other side of the spectrum, lose 5 of the six, they will either be feeling really good or really bad.

In an ideal world, fans would like to see them win all six and improve to 7-1, but the most realistic look would be for them to be at least at .500 after that stretch and sit at 4-4.

That may not seat them atop the division, but it definitely would put less of a strain on reaching the top knowing they still have a shot at the wild card after playing some solid football.

The fourth and final reason you shouldn’t read too much into the first two games is painfully obvious, at least to me. It’s the First. Two. Games. of the season.

The Patriots have a few players they are waiting to get back from injuries and some who haven’t even played their best football yet. There is a lot to figure out, and, frankly, they have a long way to go. 16 more weeks in fact, 15 of those playing.

Their next game is with the Saints in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium – kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. EST.