PatsBoy12
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2009
- Messages
- 16,502
- Reaction score
- 10,026
For what it's worth, here is NFL.com's power rankings going into the season.
NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Chiefs, 49ers on top at kickoff
NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Chiefs, 49ers on top at kickoff
Patriots rank: 15
It's unofficially official (ain't it always on Patriot Way?): Cam Newton is the starting quarterback. Newton beat out Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer to claim the job that was effectively his the moment he signed on with New England in July. It's impossible to know if Newton is close to the same guy who won MVP with the Panthers a half decade ago, but he really is the perfect bridge to whatever comes next in New England. One day -- whether it's next year or five years from now -- the Patriots will invest a premium draft pick in a young quarterback. Newton, even if things don't work out in Foxborough, provides a buffer between Tom Brady and the next boy who would be king.