Taking a look at the 2020 season, I decided I am going to break the season down by quarters. \u00a0It\u2019s like a horse race, not how you drive, but how you arrive.\u00a0 This team will be much different later in the season, hardened by the top caliber teams they have played. No team has a tougher schedule than the Patriots.\u00a0 So this will be the first of 4 installments on the schedule.<\/p>\n
The Patriots have been given the OK to start team activities inside Gillette.\u00a0 This will be at a reduced staff and a limited number of players requiring medical rehab.\u00a0 This is the first step towards a start of the new season.<\/p>\n
The team has been conducting virtual conferences with the individual player position groups.\u00a0 I am sure each player has received a copy of the playbook and as the weeks go on, more pages have likely been added.\u00a0 They will not have the ability to conduct OTA\u2019s and mini camps (as of yet).\u00a0 This should hinder the development of the rookies, UDFAs and newly signed Free Agents.\u00a0 Cohesion as a team may be an issue early in the season.\u00a0 My analysis of the schedule will be influenced by what I see as a huge roster turnover.<\/p>\n
Pre-season – I am assuming the league will be allowed to conduct these Pre-season games, probably without fans. \u00a0All their Pre-season games are on Thursday nights. \u00a0We have the Detroit Lions coming in for the 1st<\/sup> pre-season game on August 13th<\/sup>.\u00a0 \u00a0Unfortunately, as much as I would normally anticipate this would be an opportunity for some joint practices, the NFL previously sent a memo to all 32 teams stating that no joint practices will be held in 2020. As a result, there won’t be an opportunity for Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia to work together in joint sessions, which is disappointing.\u00a0 <\/p>\n The 2nd<\/sup> game is also at home August 20th<\/sup> vs the Carolina Panthers.\u00a0 Both games are at 7:30.\u00a0 The 3rd<\/sup> game is the most important and you should see starters throughout the first half.\u00a0 This is on August 27th<\/sup>, also a 7:30 start at the Philadelphia Eagles.\u00a0 This will be a good test to see where the team is at.\u00a0 Finally the annual battle of the unknowns with the New York Giants on September 3rd<\/sup>.\u00a0 This is a 7:00 contest.<\/p>\n Out of the gate – 1st<\/sup> Quarter:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Pats open with Miami Dolphins at home<\/strong> –\u00a0 This is a bit of an advantage to Miami.\u00a0 They have been practicing in the heat of South Florida and coming up to NE in Sept (not Dec) helps them.\u00a0 Both teams will be at a similar disadvantage because of the number of young players that will be playing.\u00a0 MIA does have the veteran QB in Fitzpatrick.\u00a0 He could be the difference.\u00a0 Miami coach (and former Patriots assistant) Brian Flores has the team headed into the right direction.\u00a0 They had a great draft but like the Pats young players the lack of OTAs and Mini Camp will leave then struggling more than usual.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the Dolphins could eek out a win in the opening game.\u00a0 I still have the Patriots winning with 5 weeks to prepare for MIA.<\/p>\n Game 2 is a road trip to Seattle<\/strong> – The Seahawks are always one of the toughest teams to play in their house.\u00a0 However, at the beginning of the season, crowds may not be allowed in the stadiums?\u00a0 Lets hope so!\u00a0\u00a0 Seattle comes in at #6 in the Power Rankings according to Peter King and Pro Football Focus.\u00a0 They are a very talented team and a tough opponent for the Pats.\u00a0 This will be a good bonding opportunity for the new team.\u00a0 They will learn from this experience and I expect them to lose.\u00a0 This is a Sunday night game, so the team won\u2019t be getting back until the mid-morning hours of Monday.<\/p>\n Game 3 is back at home against the improved Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong> – King has them at #8 in the Power Rankings.\u00a0 I think that is a bit high for them.\u00a0 Under former NFL Player and Draft Analyst Mike Mayock the Raiders have put together great back to back drafts.\u00a0 2nd<\/sup> year Alabama RB Josh Jacobs leads the team.\u00a0 They are loaded with former Alabama and Clemson players.\u00a0 This is going to be a very difficult game for the Patriots.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t have a home crowd to give them a boost they are probably going to lose this game.<\/p>\n Game 4 is a battle against the Chiefs <\/strong>– Where is the one place you don\u2019t want to play early in the season (or anytime in the season) \u2013 Kansas City.\u00a0 The Defending champs are the #1 team in the power rankings and have no weakness.\u00a0 They \u00a0are one of the toughest teams to play on the road.\u00a0 Again hoping there is no crowd.\u00a0 If there is, it\u2019s the loudest place for crowd noise in the league.\u00a0 This is a brutal start to the season.\u00a0 What will we learn about this Patriots team?\u00a0 Starting the season at 1-3 is not ideal, but it\u2019s not the end of the season.\u00a0 They are playing the #1, #6 and #8 teams in power rankings.\u00a0 How much will they improve?\u00a0 How is the QB play?\u00a0 Can the defense keep them in the game?\u00a0 These are some of the questions that will get answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Taking a look at the 2020 season, I decided I am going to break the season down by quarters. \u00a0It\u2019s like a horse race, not how you drive, but how you arrive.\u00a0 This team will be much different later in the season, hardened by the top caliber teams they have played. No team has a tougher schedule than the Patriots.\u00a0 So this will be the first of 4 installments on the schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":24531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2020-patriots-offseason"],"yoast_head":"\n