The New England Patriots made it to the Super Bowl last season, but fell short against the Seattle Seahawks.
Coming off a season where the team exceeded all expectations, Robert Kraft is looking forward to the future. However, he knows next season will be a bigger challenge thanks to a more difficult season. He revealed what the objective is for next season during the league's annual meeting.
“Yeah, we have a pretty tough schedule, I think the hardest schedule with a lot of west coast travel,” Kraft said, per MassLive's Karen Guregian. "You know, my objective every year is we make the playoffs. And as we saw last year, when you’re privileged to make the playoffs, anything can happen.”
Kraft knows the first step in winning a Super Bowl is getting into the dance. The Patriots will play eight playoff teams during the regular season, as well as the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, who missed the playoffs last season but qualified in the previous two seasons. The path to the playoffs will be tougher, but the Patriots have a very talented team.
Drake Maye is coming off an MVP runner-up campaign and the team added Romeo Doubs as well. While they lost Stefon Diggs, Doubs could end up being even better. He is finally getting the chance to be a No. 1 option, and he has the tools to be a star.
The Patriots got accustomed to playing in the playoffs in the Tom Brady era. However, now it's up to Maye and Vrabel to once again make the playoffs the standard.
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