New England Patriots: 2018 regular season weekly predictions
By Justin Keene
Coming off a 13-3 season and a heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl LII, the New England Patriots look to start fresh in 2018 and put together yet another strong season and a deep playoff run.
The New England Patriots always seem to get above 10 wins and have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. With a division as much of a project as the AFC East, the Patriots should take home their 10th straight division championship and their 16th in the Tom Brady – Bill Belichick era in 2018.
Now, everything is not perfect in New England; the defense still looks atrocious and with a depleted receiving core, Brady will have his hands full. He is the Greatest of All Time for a reason, and always puts this team on his back when they need it the most.
Let’s take a look at their schedule for this upcoming season and predict their record game by game.
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Week 1: Sunday, September 9th 1 PM vs Houston Texans
The home opener. The NFL schedule gods gave the New England Patriots a tough task right off the bat. With DeShaun Watson coming back healthy, look for the Watson – DeAndre Hopkins connection to pick up where they left off last season.
New England won a nail-biter at home against this very same team last year and I expect this year’s game to be just as close.
Houston still has a stellar defense, led by pass rushers JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney who you know will be hungry to get to the quarterback and start the season off right with good games.
The Patriots will also be without Julian Edelman, so I expect Rob Gronkowski to get a healthy 10-15 targets to open the season. Houston should put up a lot of points, but Brady will find something in his bag of tricks to help the Patriots avoid losing the season opener 2 years in a row.
Game Prediction: Patriots 42, Texans 38
Record: (1-0)
Week 2: Sunday, September 16th 4:25 PM @ Jacksonville Jaguars
An AFC Championship rematch, this time down in Jacksonville. The Jaguars’ defense is still elite and is going to be looking to get some revenge on Brady and the New England Patriots for knocking them out of the playoffs in January. This will be the Jaguars home opener as well, so look for them to be hyped up with the help of the home crowd.
Yes, Blake Bortles is still their quarterback, but they will have second-year running back Leonard Fournette in the backfield.
The Patriots would’ve lost in the AFC Championship game if it wasn’t for a monster 4th quarter from Danny “Playoff” Amendola. Amendola isn’t here this season, and the Patriots will be 2 games away from the return of Julian Edelman. Brady still will be establishing his repertoire with his wide receiving core.
Rob Gronkowski is going to be yet again a target hog, but the elite secondary from Jacksonville will do everything they can to shut Gronk down. The matchup does not favor New England, so this is where I believe they will suffer their first loss of the 2018 season.
Game Prediction: Jaguars 23, Patriots 17
Record: (1-1)