NFL PREVIEW: 2020 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

BY ADAM GREENE

Key Additions: QB Cam Newton (free agent), WR Marqise Lee (free agent), DT Beau Allen (free agent), QB Brian Hoyer (free agent), S Cody Davis (free agent), S Adrian Phillips (free agent), OLB Brandon Copeland (free agent), WR Damiere Byrd (free agent)

2020 NFL Draft: DB Kyle Dugger (round 2), LB Josh Uche (round 2), LB Anfernee Jennings (round 3), TE Devin Asiasi (round 3), TE Dalton Keene (round 3), K Justin Rohrwasser (round 5), OL Michael Onwenu (round 6), OL Justin Herron (round 6), LB Cassh Maluia (round 6), OL Dustin Woodard (round 7)

Projected Offensive Starters: QB Cam Newton, RB Sony Michel, WR Julian Edelman, WR Mohamed Sanu Sr., WR N’Keal Harry, TE Matt LaCosse, LT Isaiah Wynn, LG Joe Thuney, C David Andrews, RG Shaq Mason, RT Marcus Cannon

Projected Defensive Starters: LDE Lawrence Guy, NT Beau Allen, RDE Deatrich Wise Jr., WLB Chase Winovich, LILB Ja’Whaun Bentley, RILB Don’t’a Hightower, SLB John Simon, LCB Jason McCourty, RCB Stephon Gilmore, SS Patrick Chung, FS Devin McCourty

K: Justin Rohrwasser

P: Jake Bailey

Head Coach: Bill Belichick

2019 Record: 12-4, 1^st place AFC East

A Look Back: The Final Tom Brady and Bill Belichick run ended in the weirdest possible way any of us could imagine, a 20-13 loss to the 9-7 Tennessee Titans at home in the AFC Wild Card round. As Super Bowl championship defenses go, it left a lot to be desired.

But perhaps no one should have really been surprised. New England finished the season 2-3, losing to the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in back-to-back weeks and, with a chance at a first round bye on the line, dropped a 27-24 game to the Miami Dolphins in Week 17. In fact, this was a squad that went .500 over the last half of the season, with their only quality victory coming over the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 21.

The real blow came in the offseason as Tom Brady decided to take his talents to Clearwater Beach, signing as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and leaving the Patriots in quarterback limbo for all of a handful of months.

2020 Projection: Because the nightmare we all feared happened. The Pats signed Cam Newton to replace Brady, leaving the fantasy of watching the team flounder to a 5-11 finish with Jarrett Stidham at QB ground into the dust.

With a healthy Newton at QB, New England is still a contender, not only for the AFC East, all but surrendered when Brady left the facility, but for the entire AFC as well. Do I think they can beat the Chiefs in the postseason? Nope. Can they beat everyone else with Cam slinging and running it? Absolutely.

2020 Projected Record: 12-4. Over 9.0 wins for the Pats pays at +100 and 10-14 victories pays at +110 as there seems to have been no movement, as of yet, with the addition of Newton. That means it is time to wager some cash because this oversight will not last. Somebody’s going to really look at the Newton and Belichick marriage and these numbers will change significantly.

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