With the 2021 NFL Draft now in the rearview mirror, New England Patriots fans and football fans will have to wait a couple of months before training camp breaks and teams gear up for the 2021 season.
One of the neat events in between the draft and the beginning of camp is the release of each team’s schedules. It provides an interesting look at each team’s upcoming opponents, and generates some early excitement for the upcoming season.
With each team’s schedule dropping yesterday, we got our first look at how the Patriots upcoming season would turn out. After laboring through a 7-9 season, it’s safe to say the Patriots are eager to get back out on the field and make up for their lost 2020 season.
Although it is still very early, it’s always fun to take a look at the schedule and start predicting the outcomes. With that being said, let’s take a look at the Patriots 2021 schedule, including a quick prediction about the outcome of the game.
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Week 1: New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins, Sept 12, 4:25 PM
New England’s season will open up with an afternoon tilt against their the Dolphins. The Dolphins underwent a midseason quarterback switch to Tua Tagovailoa last season, and still nearly made the playoffs despite his inconsistency.
Despite Tagovailoa having a full offseason of preparations, the revamped Patriots defense is too much for him to handle, leading to a Week 1 victory for New England. Patriots 24 Dolphins13
Week 2: @ New York Jets, Sept. 19, 1:00 PM
The Patriots will take a trip to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets and second overall pick Zach Wilson. Prior to drafting the former BYU product, the Jets were busy in free agency, adding some big names such as DE Carl Lawson and WR Corey Davis. Bill Belichick’s record against rookie quarterbacks is pristine however, and he maintains that by befuddling the rookie quarterback with a variety of different coverages, leading to a comfortable victory for the Pats. Patriots 31 Jets 10
Week 3: vs. New Orleans Saints, Sept. 26, 1:00 PM
The Patriots will get their first look at the Saints in the post Drew Brees era on Week 3. The Saints gaping hole at quarterback has left them in a somewhat confusing position, as it seems Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill will be engaged in a training camp battle for the starting role.
Even with Brees missing time last season, the Saints were still able to win, and that will ring true here as well, with Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas proving to be too much for the Patriots defense. Saints 30 Patriots 20
Week 4: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oct. 3, 8:20 PM
Tom Brady makes his anticipated return to Gillette Stadium for a prime time matchup on Week 4. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t end up living up to the hype, as the Bucs makes easy work against the Pats. Cam Newton struggles mightily against the vaunted Tampa Bay defense, as the calls for Mac Jones start to gain some traction. Buccaneers 34 Patriots 14
New England Patriots middle part of the schedule features teams from Texas
Week 5: at Houston Texans, Oct. 10, 1:00 PM
After a rough two game homestand at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots take a road trip to Houston for a matchup against the Texans.
The Texans have absolutely blown up a surefire contender into a desolate franchise, and to make matters worse, Deshaun Watson is facing a myriad of legal issues that have put his status for the upcoming season in doubt. Cam Newton has a bounce back game against a weak Texans defense, and quiets his doubters for the time being. Patriots 30 Texans 17
Week 6: vs Dallas Cowboys, Oct. 17, 4:25 PM
The Dak Prescott revenge tour makes it’s way to Foxboro in Week 6, setting the stage for a high scoring affair. Prescott was taking the league by storm last season before suffering a gruesome leg injury that abruptly ended his season.
Prescott will have a big day against the Pats defense, but the Cowboys weak defense can’t slow down the Pats rushing attack, spearheaded by Damian Harris, and the Patriots pick up a hard fought victory. Patriots 37 Cowboys 34
Week 7: vs. New York Jets, Oct. 24, 1:00 PM
The Patriots and Jets will get their second matchup out of the way fairly early into the season here. Despite Zach Wilson having a better day, Cam Newton and the Patriots offense do as well. Newton hits both of the Patriots new tight ends, Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry, for touchdown strikes, as the Patriots pick up their second win over the Jets. Patriots 28 Jets 20
Week 8: @ Los Angeles Chargers, Oct. 31, 4:05 PM
New England will head out west for a matchup against the up and coming Chargers.
Despite Justin Herbert showing tons of upside, the Chargers typically found themselves with the short end of the stick, and struggled through most of the season.
With new head coach Brandon Staley taking charge, the revamped Chargers will slow down Newton and the Pats, and pick up a big win. Chargers 27 Patriots 14
New England Patriots face a challenge
Week 9: @ Carolina Panthers, Nov. 7, 1:00 PM
The Teddy Bridgewater experiment didn’t work out for the Panthers, causing them to swing a trade for Sam Darnold, who will presumably be the starting quarterback come next season.
The Panthers have a solid offensive core that consists of Christian McCaffery, Robby Anderson, and D.J. Moore, but haven’t really had any consistency under center. Darnold’s struggles against the Patriots will continue, and the Patriots will move to 6-3 on the season. Patriots 33 Panthers 16
Week 10: vs. Cleveland Browns, Nov. 14, 1:00 PM
The Browns have finally seemed to find their way out of irrelevancy in the NFL, nearly pulling off an upset against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round last season.
Baker Mayfield and his assorted cast of offensive weapons have finally found their rhythm, and it will continue against the Pats.
Mayfield will throw for two touchdowns while Nick Chubb runs for two, and the Patriots offense can’t get anything going as they suffer a tough loss at home against the Browns. Browns 28 Patriots 10
Week 11: @ Atlanta Falcons, Nov. 18, 8:20 PM
While the Falcons offense remains as strong as ever, especially after adding TE Kyle Pitts with the fourth overall pick of the draft, their defense still remains weak.
While their defense does a good job slowing up the Pats offense, so does the Pats defense. Nick Folk hits a game winning field goal as time expires, giving the Patriots a tough road victory. Patriots 24 Falcons 21
Week 12: vs. Tennessee Titans, Nov. 28, 1:00 PM
The last time the Patriots faced the Titans just so happened to be Tom Brady’s last game in New England, so the Patriots will obviously be looking for revenge.
Unfortunately, there’s no revenge to be found here, as Derrick Henry tramples the Patriots run defense en route to a 150 yard game. Ryan Tannehill also hooks up with A.J. Brown for a pair of scores, and Mac Jones gets his first snaps of his career with the game out of hand. Titans 38 Patriots 12
Week 13: @ Buffalo Bills, Dec. 6, 8:15 PM
New England’s lone Monday night game comes against Buffalo, and should prove to be an entertaining matchup.
Cam Newton throws a pair of touchdowns and runs for another, but is outdone by Josh Allen, who fires three touchdowns himself on the other end. Ultimately, the Bills get the final possession of the game, and run out the clock at the end to secure the victory. Bills 30 Patriots 27
New England Patriots begin with a Week 14 Bye
Week 15: @ Indianapolis Colts, Dec. 18 or 19, TBD
New England gets a flex game here against the Colts, with the time set to be decided later on in the season.
The Colts settled on Carson Wentz on their next quarterback after Philip Rivers announced his retirement, reuniting Wentz with former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich.
Wentz will get some help from Jonathan Taylor, who has a two touchdown day, and the Colts deal a blow to the Patriots playoff hopes. Colts 20 Patriots 16
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Week 16: vs. Buffalo Bills, Dec. 26, 1:00 PM
A rematch with the Bills doesn’t seem like a favorable matchup, but the Pats manage to pull out a huge victory here.
The key change made involves switching Jonathan Jones onto Stefon Diggs rather than J.C. Jackson, which hadn’t worked out too well for the Patriots previously.
As a result, they manage to slow down the Bills offense just enough to pull out a victory. Patriots 23 Bills 20
Week 17: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, Jan. 2, 1:00 PM
New England will get their first look at the highly acclaimed Trevor Lawrence in this Week 17 matchup.
While Lawrence is certainly a spectacular talent, his surrounding cast in Jacksonville isn’t quite up to par yet, and he will find life in the NFL much more difficult than in college.
Belichick keeps his track record against rookie quarterbacks at a high mark by taking down Lawrence and the Jags in this one. Patriots 27 Jaguars 16
Week 18: @ Miami Dolphins, Jan. 9, 1:00 PM
The first Week 18 matchup will come against the same team New England opened the season against.
Whereas the Patriots took advantage of a young Dolphins team the first time around, they aren’t as fortunate this time, as the Patriots struggles in South Florida continue.
The Dolphins defense shuts down the New England offense, and help Tua and the offense pull out a victory. Dolphins 22 Patriots 12
Final Record: 9-8
An initial look at the Patriots schedule seems to be relatively favorable. Whereas New England had one of the toughest schedules last season, it isn’t nearly as grueling this year.
There are a couple of games that could end up going the other way, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Patriots rebound from last season make a push for a wild card spot come the end of the season.