Today the New England Patriots announced their four 2017 preseason opponents, and which weeks the Pats will be facing those teams. The specific time and dates will be revealed at a later date. Typically the NFL publishes that information prior to the league’s annual draft.
All but two NFL clubs play four preseason games. The exception is for the two teams that will play in Canton Ohio as part of the Hall of Fame weekend. This year the Dallas Cowboys will face the Arizona Cardinals in that game, which takes place on Thursday August 3rd.
The first two weeks of the preseason run from Thursday through Monday and week three goes from Thursday to Sunday. Week four is limited to Thursday and Friday nights due to the final roster cut down date. The Patriots will not have any of their preseason games televised nationally, so don’t expect any Sunday or Monday games.
The Patriots are at home in week one against Jacksonville, somewhere between August 10-14. The Jaguars are coming off a disappointing 3-13 campaign, after many pundits predicted they would make the playoffs. The Jags lost nine in a row at one point, leading to the dismissal of Gus Bradley at head coach. Tom Coughlin has come out of retirement to oversee the rebuilding process. Jacksonville ranked in the bottom ten in many categories, including points scored, points allowed and turnover differential. 2017 will be a make or break season for quarterback Blake Bortles, who regressed dramatically last year.
In week two (August 17-21) the Patriots travel to Houston. The last time we saw the Texans was in the division round of the playoffs. Bill O’Brien’s crew kept it close for a while (17-13 at halftime) but the Pats pulled away in the second half for a 34-16 victory. The Texans are another team that will be looking for development from their quarterback position. Brock Osweiler was given away for nothing in order to get out from under his contract. That leaves Tom Savage, who has just two NFL starts, at the helm for O’Brien.
Week three is the preseason game that starters receive the most playing time. Patriot season ticket holders will be disappointed to see that once again the week three game will be on the road. In the last seven years the Pats will have now played just a single preseason week three home game. New England travels to Detroit (August 24-27) for this tuneup. Similar to the Texans, the Pats have some connections to Detroit executives. Lion GM Bob Quinn was with the Patriots from 2000-2015, working his way up the ranks to Director of Pro Scouting from 2012-2015.
Bill Belichick finds joint practice sessions between teams prior to a preseason game to be very beneficial. The week two (Detroit) and week three (Houston) games appear to be prime candidates for this exercise. Unfortunately for Patriot fans both of those are on the road. Local fans may miss out on those opportunities to see players going at it up close if that comes to fruition.
Once again the final preseason game (August 31 or September 1) will be against the New York Giants, this time at Gillette Stadium. The last time the Patriots did not finish the preseason against the Giants was in 2004, when the Pats lost 31-0 to Jacksonville.
Patriot preseason opponents during the Bill Belichick era
NFC East – 30 games
Dallas Cowboys – zero games
New York Giants – 15 games
Week 4 2016 (L 17-9)
Week 4 2015 (L 12-9)
Week 4 2014 (L 16-13)
Week 4 2013 (W 28-20)
Week 4 2012 (L 6-3)
Week 4 2011 (L 18-17)
Week 4 2010 (L 20-17)
Week 4 2009 (W 38-27)
Week 4 2008 (L 19-14)
Week 4 2007 (W 27-20)
Week 4 2006 (L 31-23)
Week 4 2005 (L 27-3)
Week 1 2003 (W 26-6)
Week 1 2002 (L 22-19)
Week 1 2001 (W 24-0)
Philadelphia Eagles – 8 games
Week 2 2014 (W 42-35)
Week 1 2013 (W 31-22)
Week 2 2012 (L 27-17)
Week 1 2009 (W 27-25)
Week 3 2008 (L 27-17)
Week 1 2004 (W 24-6)
Week 3 2003 (W 24-12)
Week 2 2002 (W 16-15)
Washington Redskins – 7 games
Week 1 2014 (L 23-6)
Week 3 2009 (W 27-24)
Week 3 2006 (W 41-0)
Week 2 2003 (W 20-13)
Week 1 2002 (W 28-14)
Week 4 2001 (W 33-13)
Week 2 2000 (L 30-20)
NFC South – 22 games
Atlanta Falcons – 2 games
Week 2 2010 (W 28-10)
Week 1 2006 (L 26-23)
Carolina Panthers – 8 games
Week 3 2016 (W 19-17)
Week 3 2015 (W 17-16)
Week 3 2014 (W 30-7)
Week 3 2007 (W 24-7)
Week 3 2004 (L 20-17)
Week 3 2002 (W 23-3)
Week 2 2001 (W 23-8)
Week 4 2000 (W 29-21)
New Orleans Saints – 5 games
Week 1 2016 (W 34-22)
Week 2 2015 (W 26-24)
Week 1 2012 (W 7-6)
Week 1 2010 (W 27-24)
Week 2 2005 (L 37-27)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 7 games
Week 2 2013 (W 25-21)
Week 3 2012 (L 30-28)
Week 2 2011 (W 31-14)
Week 2 2008 (L 27-10)
Week 1 2007 (L 13-10)
Week 3 2001 (L 20-3)
Week 3 2000 (W 31-21)
NFC North – 7 games
Chicago Bears – 2 games
Week 2 2016 (W 23-22)
Week 4 2003 (W 38-23)
Detroit Lions – 3 games
Week 3 2013 (L 40-9)
Week 3 2011 (L 34-10)
Week 1 2010 (W 13-10)
Green Bay Packers – 2 games
Week 1 2015 (L 22-11)
Week 3 2005 (W 27-3)
Minnesota Vikings – zero games
NFC West – 3 games
Arizona Cardinals – 1 game
Week 2 2006 (W 30-3)
St. Louis Rams – 1 game
Week 3 2010 (L 36-35)
San Francisco 49ers – 1 game
2000 HoF game (W 20-0)
Seattle Seahawks – zero games
AFC North – 4 games
Baltimore Ravens – 1 game
Week 1 2008 (L 16-15)
Cincinnati Bengals – 3 games
Week 2 2009 (L 7-6)
Week 1 2005 (W 23-13)
Week 2 2004 (L 31-3)
Cleveland Browns – zero games
Pittsburgh Steelers – zero games
AFC South – 3 games
Houston Texans – zero games
Indianapolis Colts – zero games
Jacksonville Jaguars – 2 games
Week 1 2011 (W 47-12)
Week 4 2004 (L 31-0)
Tennessee Titans – 1 game
Week 2 2007 (L 27-24)
AFC West – zero games
AFC East – zero games
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