How the New England Patriots can make the playoffs in 2023
The 2022-2023 NFL season is officially in the books with the conclusion of the Super Bowl Sunday night. Isn’t that weird to think about? No more NFL football until training camp in August and regular season play resuming in September. So naturally, I’m going to spin this into a New England Patriots perspective.
The New England Patriots were one game away from a second consecutive playoff appearance as a Wild Card team. Of course, that didn’t come into fruition. They finished 8-9 and had a record good for third in their own division. Yeah, not a great year!
But it’s time to turn the page and look forward. The Patriots front office has done wonders in adding offensive coaches Bill O’Brien, Adrian Klemm, and Will Lawing. But it’s time to take it a step further.
It’s time to identify how the 2023 New England Patriots can make the playoffs once again!
New England Patriots continuing to establish their defensive identity
It’s no surprise that the best unit for the Patriots all season long was their defense.
Their defense kept them afloat for most of the season, with their knack to get to the quarterback and create turnovers.
It all starts and ends with Matthew Judon.
Judon went back to the Pro Bowl this year after finishing the season with 15.5 sacks. He even was getting some recognition as a potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Then you have other young pieces like Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger, and Josh Uche. These guys are the foundation for the next 5-10 years in this Patriots defense.
Add in other players such as Lawrence Guy and Jonathan Jones; then you really have something special to work with in Foxborough.
Should the Patriots make minor tweaks to improve, their defense will once again be one of the strongest in the NFL come the 2023 season.
New England Patriots getting a boost from Mac Jones and the offense
For the 2023 Patriots to be successful, it’s all going to come down to Mac Jones and the offense.
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We all saw the horror show that was the Patriots offense in 2022. But it has a lot of reason for optimism in 2023.
Mac Jones is a good quarterback, folks. We saw that in his rookie season and we saw it toward the end of 2022. Now he has a real offensive coordinator to work with and there’s no doubt he can get back on track.
Now it’s up to ownership to get talent around Mac Jones. You already have some with Rhamondre Stevenson and (a hopefully resigned!) Damien Harris. Then there’s the tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith that have been overall underwhelming. And of course, what will happen with the wide receivers?
Will a Deandre Hopkins trade happen? Could Keenan Allen come after getting cut by the Chargers potentially? We don’t know. But a move needs to be made there to upgrade.
So once the offense gets its footing under O’Brien and we get some more pieces on offense, there’s tons of potential on that side of the ball.
The bottom line with the 2023 New England Patriots
This team is not as far away as other fans and analysts seem to think.
Next. Robert Kraft is a 'strong believer' in Mac Jones. dark
Keep making minor upgrades to the defense, make a big splash or two on offense, and get the special teams back on track. That’s essentially how this team is going to make the playoffs.
I’m tired of being on the couch, watching other teams in the playoffs making runs. Get the train back on track and let’s get some playoff fever back to New England next season!