Patriots Schedule Release
The Patriots have a very favorable schedule, which is the 3rd best schedule based upon last year’s winning percentage Strength of Schedule (SOS). The last two 4-13 seasons, the Patriots have had the worst SOS going into the seasons, which attributed to their overall record.
Twelve of their games are at 1:00 (I Love 1:00 pm games). They are in Prime Time three times, one each on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights.
Unfortunately, they have a BYE week that is at the end of the BYE Week cycle in week 14. They will have many injuries that late in the season, and don’t get as much of a boost to heal from injuries this late in season. The big benefit is they get the BYE the week before playing one of their tougher opponents, the Buffalo Bills, at home.
Another point is the minimized travel schedule. The team has no games overseas nor do they travel to the West Coast. Their farthest road game is at New Orleans.
Schedule
Pre-season Game #1 Friday August 8th 7:30 home vs Washington Commanders.
Look for The Pats to be hosting a joint practice with the Commanders prior to this game. I would expect the starters will play little or not at all because of the joint practice.
Pre-season Game #2 Saturday August 19th 1:00 at Minnesota Vikings
There was a rumor the Pats were interested in a joint practice with the Vikings, but I don’t think this will happen.
Pre-season Game #3 Thursday August 21st 8:00 at NYG
The traditional last preseason game against an opponent that they will face later in the season. Usually, starters don’t play in this game at all and its players who are trying to make the 53-man roster and other players that are trying to show their skills to be claimed by another team.
Week 1 September 7th 1:00 CBS – They open at home against the Raiders, which is a very winnable game. We can call this the Josh McDaniels revenge game. Robert Spillane and Marcus Epps played for the Raiders. We will also see old friend WR Jacobi Meyers. Pete Carroll also returns to Foxboro. This should be a win to open the Vrabel era.
Week 2 September 14th 1:00 CBS – The next game is at Miami in the heat of South Florida. Huge home advantage for Miami but would rather have this game in September and a home game in January in the cold of Foxboro. I would peg this as loss.
Week 3 September 21st 1:00 – CBS has the Pats back home against the Steelers. This should be a win against a team that presently doesn’t have a QB.
Week 4 September 28th 1:00 FOX – is another weaker foe in the Carolina Panthers at home. This should be another win. A quick start at 3-1 at this point.
Week 5 October 5th 8:25 CBS – They travel to Buffalo for a Sunday Night matchup. A Prime-Time game with the team that has been in competition for the AFC Championships in the last few years. A good test for the young team. I gave this game to Buffalo.
Week 6 October 12th 4:25 CBS – They travel to New Orleans for a game in the late afternoon time slot. New Orleans has a big QB problem to overcome, and I have the Pats winning this game.
Week 7 October 19th 1:00 CBS – It’s Mike Vrabel’s return to Tennessee. This will be a fun game to watch and see how far Cam Ward has progressed. This is another game the Patriots should win.
Week 8 October 26th 1:00 FOX – The Patriots are Home again versus the struggling Browns. I don’t know how the Browns are going to be. Since they are at home, I am giving it to the Patriots.
Week 9 November 2nd 1:00 CBS – has the Falcons visiting New England. This is another team the Pats should beat. I am interested in seeing how far Michael Penix has progressed.
**Week 10 November 9th**1:00 CBS – The game at Tampa Bay will be a great test for the Patriots as the second half of the schedule is exceeding tougher than the 1st half. To this point they have only played one playoff team and that was at Buffalo. The Bucs are a very good team and play tough at home in the Florida heat. I have this in the loss column.
Week 11 November 13th 8:15 PRIME – Thursday Night Football game is against the NY Jets at home. They are travelling back from Tampa Bay to play the short week game at home. A rivalry game in which the Patriots should prevail. Then it’s 10 days off before travelling to Cincinnati for a game.
Week 12 November 23rd 1:00 CBS – The Patriots travel to Cincinnati after getting an extra three days off. I think the Patriots will battle the Bengals tough in this game but will fall short for another loss.
Week 13 December 1st 8:15 ESPN – The Patriots are home for a Monday Night clash with New York Giants. This is another game where they come away as the victors. This game could be flexed out of Monday Night Football by the league if either or both teams are not competitive by this week.
Week 14 BYE – This is very late in the season. I think the Patriots are being punished because of their easy schedule. No other AFC East team has the BYE this late. This is the last BYE Week in the NFL schedule.
Week 15 December 14th 1:00 CBS – They are at home hosting the Buffalo Bills. The Pats will have the advantage of having the BYE the week before the game with time to heal and game plan, ahead of this clash. This is another game in which I expect the Patriots to play tough but come up short.
Week 16 December 21st 1:00 CBS – This is another tough game at the Baltimore Ravens. Overall, this may be their toughest game of the year. Baltimore is a very good running team and with my limited analysis of the Defense, I think the Patriots Defense may have difficulty against strong running teams. Will they be able to handle Lamar Jackson? This is another loss.
Week 17 December 28th 1:00 CBS – This has them travelling to the Meadowlands for a matchup with the Jets. I think the Jets season will be over already and they are just playing out the string. I have the Patriots winning this game.
Week 18 January 3rd or 4th TBD, TBD – The regular season finale could be played on January 3rd or 4th as determined by the Leagues for the most favorable matchups for TV. The Dolphins have to travel North to Foxboro. It’s well documented the Phins don’t play nearly as well in the cold. I have this game going the Patriots way
Projected Season Record
I don’t believe I am predicting an 11-6 record and the Patriots making the Wild Card. This is how the schedule lays out and the overall diminished abilities of the opponents. They will face a minimum of two and as many as four rookie QB’s as well as a 2nd year QB in Michael Penix. The 3rd best SOS is playing heavily into my prediction. Anything worse than 9 wins, in my opinion, will be a failure for this team. Only one team, the New England Patriots, have not made the playoffs with 11 wins (2008 Patriots Season). The last 4 games will determine if they are contenders or pretenders! To that point they will have played a very easy schedule. They have back-to-back games versus playoffs teams in Buffalo and Baltimore.
Changes starting Amongst the Scouting Staff
Josh Hinch, an Area Scout for the Southeast Region, has departed from the Patriots Scouting Department. I do not know if Hinch was let go, or if he left of his own accord. Hinch had been with the Patriots since 2021. The life of a scout is difficult, especially if they have a family. It’s many days on the road interviewing people and gathering information on thousands of players. I found it refreshing that Eliot Wolf went out of his way to thank the scouts first before he said anything about the draft.
Patrick Stewart, Pro Scouting Director left the team to take a Football Operations position at Nebraska.
This article was started two weeks ago and what I wrote was “The Titans released three scouts, Corey Cooper, Michal Johnson and AJ Highsmith. Highsmith is the son of Patriots Senior Personnel Executive Alonzo Highsmith. This is the time of year that changes are made to the team’s scouting staffs. Look for additional movement there”.
Wolf criticized his team’s free agency research in 2024, claiming that “some of the information that we got on some of the players wasn’t as thorough as it needed to be.” The hope will be that adding Highsmith helps address that issue”.
The Patriots announced they have in fact brought in Highsmith to replace Stewart as Pro Scouting Director. On the surface it looks like nepotism because of the relationship with his father. That is the only connection he has with the current Patriots organization. He was not a scout in Tennessee when Vrabel was there. AJ Highsmith has been in NFL scouting for 11 years already with increasing responsibilities working for Buffalo under Brandon Beane, in San Francisco under John Lynch and in Tennessee under Ran Carthon.
Cam Williams Leaves the Team
Williams was the Director of College Scouting in his 9 years for the Patriots in which he steadily increased his responsibilities for the team. Denver hired him for the position of Co-Director of Player Personnel. This is a promotion for Williams. Williams is the son of former Patriots D-lineman Brent Williams. In the videos of the team calling Will Campbell and TreVeyon Henderson, Williams was the 1st member of the scouting staff making the calls to the players. It’s possible the team promotes from within, and Matt Evans, who succeeded Cam Williams as National Scout could be a candidate.
From outside the organization, Corey Cooper and Michal Johnson, who I listed above would make sense as possible additions since they were recently let go from the Titans. Ryan Cowden and Mike Vrabel are familiar with these guys.
Williams was seen as a Belichick guy and that may be the reason he chose to go for a promotion in another organization, something he wasn’t going to get here.
Trayveon Williams Signed by Patriots
They signed the 6-year NFL running back who was a former 6th Round Draft pick in 2019 by the Cincinnati Bengals. He led the SEC in rushing in 2018, while earning a 1st team All-SEC. He gained 1,760 yards that year and accumulated 3,615 yards over his three-year career at Texas A&M, averaging 6.0 yards per carry. In the NFL, he was used as a special team player in returning kickoffs. Williams stands 5’8” 208-pounds and ran a 4.51 40-yard dash. In a subsequent move, the Patriots waived DT Eric Johnson whom they picked up on waivers last season from the Indianapolis Colts. Johnson had 11 Tackles in 11 games with the Patriots last season.
About Mark Morse
Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
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