This week’s opponent is the Seattle Seahawks.  They are coming off a win at home against the Denver Broncos and rookie QB Bo Nix.

A few notes about the game versus Cincinnati.  The Patriots weren’t nearly as good as it appeared, and they had to rely on a stingy and opportunistic Defense to win the game.

Stevenson gained 118 yards after contact. On the final drive, where the Bengals were selling out trying to stop the run, was impressive.

“They came out on fire. We challenged those guys. Everyone was talking about how explosive Cincinnati’s offense is. They answered the call “

So little is expected from the 2024 Patriots. Some experts have the Patriots winning as few as two games this year. Las Vegas has the Patriots winning only four. A Globe article this morning cautioned all of you to prepare for a biblically bad season.

I care more about their growth and their development more than anything. I say players win games, and coaches lose games. – Jerod Mayo

The Patriots open at the Cincinnati Bengals.  The Bengals are led by QB Joe Burrow, who is healthy after a shady 2023 season, with two separate injuries.  He started the season with a calf strain and later had a torn ligament in his wrist that kept him out for the last 7 games of the season.  He is reported to be completely recovered from the injury and ready to start against the Pats.

Look for Cincy to prioritize stopping the run, stacking the box, using run blitzes to stop the run, and daring Jacoby Brissett to beat them

The Patriots will be working with a first-time head coach, Jerod Mayo, an offensive coordinator who hasn’t been a full-time play caller since 2009, Alex Van Pelt, a first year Offensive Line coach, Scott Peters, and a quarterbacks coach with just one year of experience in the role, TC McCartney.  To help with the Quarterback tutelage and game day decisions is former Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo.

This the 2nd of 3 Season Preview posts.  We will concentrate on the Defense and Special Teams.  Tomorrow I will complete the Preview with the Coaches and Season Projection.  Look for a preview of their Opponent the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.

To look forward to the 2024 season you first have to look back at the 2023 season and how we got to this point.   Warren Sharpe, an NBC Football Analyst, had this to say about 2023 “Looking back, perhaps Bill Belichick simply wanted to get out of coaching so he could get into dating 24-year-olds, but this was absolutely lousy coaching.”

“nothing bad can happen with Drake Maye starting as the backup this year. Nothing bad in his development can really happen.” – Brian Hoyer

It’s been a strange couple of weeks for New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, and he finally put to rest some uncertainty ahead of the club’s Week 1 match-up against Cincinnati.

It has been a busy couple of days in Foxborough with players coming and going.  Here is a summation of those transactions.

After spending the last two seasons on the practice squad, along with seeing some time on the field during these last two seasons, Bailey Zappe’s moving on to a different team in 2024.

I had 48 of the 50 players I named, make the final 53.  The big surprise was RB Kevin Harris getting cut. I can see that he is redundant to Stevenson and Gibson as all three are big backs.  Harris lacks breakaway speed.  His pass catching ability is greatly improved as evident by his TD catch and run against Washington, but that was not enough to save him.

The New England Patriots pared down its roster on Wednesday, with the club getting down to the mandatory 53-man roster limit ahead of the 2024 NFL Season.

I am giving you a 50-man roster because I believe they will be claiming some players off the Waivers.

Wow was that ugly.  Here are some thoughts and notes coming off that embarrassing loss Sunday night.

Drake Maye outplayed Jacoby Brissett by a mile on Sunday night at Commanders Stadium. Brissett lasted only the first series, hurt his shoulder on a sack, and got out of Dodge quick. He spent the rest of the game on the sideline with a headset on and not wincing in pain.

Here’s the full transcript of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s press conference after their loss to the Commanders Sunday night.

Here’s the full transcript of New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo’s press conference following the Patriots loss to the Commanders Sunday night.

What am I going to look at in Sunday’s Pre-Season finale versus the Washington Commanders?

Maye has improved his game slowly but surely, especially since the Eagles game. He looks very comfortable running the offense

Head coach Jerod Mayo spoke to the media on Friday morning in his final press conference ahead of the preseason finale in Washington this weekend, with Mayo providing a little bit of insight into who Sunday night’s game might play out.