Brady had a year under his belt, and his play snd that of the team around him was getting better throughout the season, so there was a basis to believe in them. I don’t think there is any comparison from that team to last year’s Patriotsvteam. There was no point last season where I felt like they were a playoff team, or getting better as the season wore on. That’s not a knock on Zappe, as he played well when he played, but while the defense played well at times the team as a whole never went on a run where I felt like they were putting it together, and were going to be a tough team to beat.
There will be a QB competition this year, and if Zappe has grasped the offense as well as Brady had in his 2nd season then Jones is going to have a battle on his hands, as I think that was the primary reason Belichick went back to Iones when he returned from injury.