Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz discuss if the New England Patriots will struggle in the next NFL season. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
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Video Transcript
I would be concerned, though, moving forward, about the, the Patriots’ longevity, of how they are currently constructed.
Like you said, they are a flawed football team.
The offensive line was a flaw of this team all season long, but you had Drake May playing like an MVP-caliber quarterback, and that kind of overshadowed a lot of warts on this offensive line.
they ran the ball incredibly well.
Again, overshadowed a lot of warts on this offensive line.
had an easier schedule, a lighter schedule.
I know, there’s no such thing as an easy schedule in the NFL.
Yeah, yeah, the Patriots had one.
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The Patriots had a lighter path on their way to the Super Bowl.
Again, doesn’t take away from the fact that you got to a Super Bowl, but there was no team that was going to expose the warts and the flaws on this team on their path to the Super Bowl until they got to the Seattle Seahawks.
I don’t think the Patriots are going to be an overly competitive football team until they figure out their left side of the line.
Will Campbell’s not a starting left tackle in the NFL.
I think at some point, when you start looking at the way this team played, and you start looking at the needs that this team has, it’s fair to say, “Hey, that was a really good year.”
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Like, I don’t think the Washington analysis was bad a year ago when we said, “Hey, this team is ahead of its skis.”
The Patriots have a lot of holes.
Mm-hmm.
They had a lot of holes coming into this season.
They spent their money really wisely, and it worked.
It’s rare for a team to spend $100 million and then get a bunch of talent that’s worked out, and to, to be very clear here, they got talent that maybe everybody else wasn’t jumping over their skis for, but certainly made impact.
Like, Roberts N’Palame is a great example of a player that maybe not everybody else was coveted in chasing in free agency, and then had a massive impact on this Patriots defense.
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So I think the Patriots have the right building blocks to continue to move forward.
I can say that, and also say that I think had they played a, a, a more difficult schedule this year, they were probably an eight- or nine-win team.
Like, so z- look no further than V- Vegas.
Vegas projected them to be the favorites in 11 games this year coming into the season, so Vegas was not surprised, all right?
I say that as a caveat, because right now, Vegas gives shorter odds, better odds, for the Buffalo Bills to win the division next year than the New England Patriots.
So the very same group of people that saw that the Patriots were likely to win a bunch of football games are now telling us very early that the Patriots are likely to finish second in their division.
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A- Vegas doesn’t always get it right, but I think this is important context.
You start to look at who the Patriots were, and where the Patriots have to go to.
You’re right, Caroline, they need weapons.
They need help on the offensive line.
They, they, they need some pieces.
Can they address that?
Yes.
Drake May’s also gotta continue to grow into whoever he’s gonna be as a starting quarterback.
Like, it’s okay for all of us to say Drake May was really good in the regular season, and in the playoffs- … Drake May wasn’t.