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Will Patriots be better or worse than 2023 team in these six areas? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots aren’t expected to be good in 2024. But can they at least be better than last season?
That’s one way to look at a rebuilding Patriots team with a first-year head coach and 10 (!) rookies on its 53-man roster. After all, the goal of a rebuild is to make steady improvements — and in case you forgot, the bar is set pretty low.
New England needs just five wins this season to top the 4-13 record that ultimately cost Bill Belichick his job in 2023. If the offense averages just 14 points per game, that will represent an improvement from the club’s NFL-worst 13.9 points per game last season.
So, what are the odds the 2024 Patriots are better than the 2023 Patriots? To answer that question, we picked six high-level stat categories and asked Patriots Insiders Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry to predict whether head coach Jerod Mayo’s club will go “over” or “under” the team’s 2023 total.
Their responses might make you feel slightly better about the upcoming season.
Points per game (2023 result: 13.9; T-32nd in NFL)
Tom E. Curran: OVER (17.3)
Always remember and don’t ever forget how unwatchable and brutally inefficient the 2023 Patriots were. It took years to get to that point and a boatload of hare-brained decisions on the coaching staff and in player personnel (Jakobi Meyers). That’s not even mentioning the ruination of a first-round quarterback.
The Patriots will get better quarterback play. They will use DeMario Douglas as the slot receiver/chain mover they haven’t had since Julian Edelman retired. They will have a nice running back complement with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. They will actually have a change-up back with JaMycal Hasty.
K.J. Osborn and Ja’Lynn Polk will be upgrades to a wide receiver group that still needs work. Yes, the offensive line will be porous. And that’s why we’ll keep the points-per-game prediction very…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-better-worse-2023-team-153418823.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-09-06 15:40:34
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