It’s finally here. The NFL Draft is upon us, and the Patriots are facing their most consequential draft in the past 30-years. Bill Belichick is gone, there is a hole at quarterback and the future of the entire offense is uncertain. With those things in mind, I took a quarterback of the future, several offensive pieces and injected additional youth into an already good defense. Round 1, Pick 3: Drake…
While watching the Apple TV series The Dynasty, I chronicled my thoughts. Below is how I felt about each episode as it aired. I begin with some overarching thoughts: Appreciate the run of success for what it was. The drama at the end is interesting, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that the Patriots had the greatest run in sports history. They won SIX freaking Super Bowls!…
By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent News broke last night that Patriots offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien is leaving the team to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. The move is not that surprising given the head coaching change in New England and the frustrating year that O’Brien went through in 2023. With him gone, Jerod Mayo has his biggest task of his coaching reign thus far in hiring…
By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent Bill Belichick is no longer the head coach of the Patriots. All good things come to an end, but that first sentence still seems surreal. 296 wins as Patriots head coach. 30 playoff wins. Six Super Bowl championships. The greatest tenure of a head coach in NFL history is over and, despite the legitimate reasons for this ending, it should be met with gratitude and…
By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent The Patriots are 2-9. Nearly everything about the once dynastic team is bad. Week in and week out, they find new ways to lose or new mistakes to make. Despite this, there are three players whose effort and play continue to stand out. In a lost season, the play of Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers has been strong and showed that those three…
Image courtesy of Associated Press/Telegram & Gazette By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent Video of Jonathan Kraft appearing to say “We’re not good enough” during Sunday’s loss to the Commanders has gone viral and added to the sense of dread already surrounding the Patriots. New England sits at 2-7 after nine games and has found a variety of ways to lose, from blowouts, to turnovers, to not getting feet in bounds,…
Image courtesy of New England Patriots By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent The Patriots offense has been bad all season, but the past two weeks have been asteroid-hitting-the-Earth level bad for a unit that was able to consistently outscore opponents during a 20-year dynasty. In the year 2023, when the rules are designed to facilitate scoring, the Patriots have managed to score just three points in their last two games. They’ve…
Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Patriots dropped a 25-20 game to the Eagles in Week 1, a result that was more about the Patriots’ mistakes than anything else. However, one significant bright spot was the play of New England’s Rookie class. In order for the Patriots to contend for a playoff spot, they will need to get impact production from their rookie class. Offensively, Demario Douglas…
Patriots 53 Man Roster Projection The Patriots lost to the Titans, 23-7, in their final preseason game on Friday night. Roster cutdown day is on Tuesday. By 4pm of that day New England’s roster will need to be at 53 players. After a month of training camp and three preseason games, this is what I project the roster to look like. Quarterback Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe Jones is the clear…
Image courtesy of New England Patriots By Jon Lyons NEFJ Correspondent The Patriots concluded the preseason with a 23-7 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Friday night. Here are five players that stood out in New England’s final exhibition contest. Josh Uche Uche played early in the first quarter before sitting for the remainder of the game. The most important part of Uche’s night was his play against the run….