The New England Patriots looked lifeless in their Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks (only scored 10 points and let Drew Lock beat them), and their big offseason acquisition, A.J. Brown (who is the central point of this offense outside of Drake Maye), sustained a high-ankle sprain that will keep him sidelined for at least a month.
It was already going to be tough for New England to make it back to the Super Bowl this year (namely because of a harder schedule and the rest of the AFC beefing up in the offseason), but based on how the NFL season has gone so far, it's looking like an even bigger uphill battle.
The rest of the AFC is looking incredibly dangerous to the Patriots
It's not lost on me that the NFL season is just a little over a week old at this point, and there is still a ton of time for things to change. But if you're a Patriots fan, there are reasons to be a bit concerned about the team's outlook.
The Buffalo Bills are already 2-0. They scored 36 points against a Houston Texans defense that many would consider the best in the league, and they just beat the Detroit Lions 41-31 on Thursday night (even though DJ Moore, their big offseason addition, missed most of the game due to a shoulder injury). Josh Allen is putting together one of the best starts to a season we have ever seen, and he looks like he's on a mission.
Additionally, the Baltimore Ravens, led by new head coach Jesse Minter, beat the Indianapolis Colts, 41-23, in Week 1 and looked fantastic. The Jacksonville Jaguars (who went 13-4 last season and won the AFC South) scored 34 points against a still-solid-without-Myles-Garrett Cleveland Browns defense last week. Plus, the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers (who the Patriots will aim to bounce back against this week), and Kansas City Chiefs all secured Week 1 victories as well.
And that's not even factoring in teams like the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers, who were in the playoffs last season (I wonder how that ended for both of them) and just put up duds in Week 1.
The Patriots have a lot of work to do to re-enter the Super Bowl picture
It's fair to say that Patriots fans shouldn't overreact to the Week 1 loss because A) it was to the reigning Super Bowl champions, and B) it's just one game. At the same time, though, the team didn't really give fans many reasons to feel confident in their outlook for the rest of the season.
Maye is still making boneheaded mistakes. The running game never got going. The offensive line mostly looked improved but came back down to earth late in the game. And the defense was technically solid for the most part, but we can't ignore that Lock (72.7% completion, 187 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 13 rushing yards on two attempts) just outplayed the MVP runner-up (69.7% completion, 178 passing yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, 47 rushing yards on seven attempts).
Pair all of that with Brown's injury, Romeo Doubs having an atrocious debut with the team, and the lack of depth that many knew would be a problem, and it's all looking tough for New England right now.
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