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Jun 22, 2023

Ranking Patriots' must

The Patriots do appear to be at a crossroads as they look forward to the 2023

The Patriots do appear to be at a crossroads as they look forward to the 2023 season. The franchise has missed the playoffs in two of the three seasons following Tom Brady's departure, including an 8-9 season in 2022 where it seemed like the arrow was pointing in the wrong direction, particularly on the offensive side of the ball with former first-round pick Mac Jones.

New England has since used this offseason to try and bolster the club and get the train of this post-Brady rebuild back on the tracks. They've brought in Bill O'Brien to run the offense and added high-upside pieces like wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki, while also injecting some youth on defense with corner Christian Gonzalez, who was taken in the first round.

With the major periods of offseason roster building now in the rearview mirror, the focus now shifts to getting this collection of players ready to embark on the 2023 season, which came into clearer view last week when the NFL unveiled its full regular-season schedule. The Patriots have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL next season, so the road could be treacherous, but there are several notable games that you won't want to miss. Below, you'll find the top must-see games for New England in 2023.

Patriots vs. Chiefs has lost its juice in recent years with New England taking a step back. In the past, this was billed as a potential AFC Championship preview of two of the conference's most powerful teams. While the Patriots may not be at that Super Bowl-contending apex at the moment, this "Monday Night Football" matchup is still worthy of your attention.

For the Patriots, this game comes at a critical point in their season. They'll be in the thick of a three-week primetime window that starts in Week 14 against the Steelers on Thursday night and concludes on Christmas Eve in Denver. While facing Patrick Mahomes is never an easy task, New England will be well rested for this game as they'll play on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 14 and then have an extended break as this game with K.C. falls on the back end of Week 15 on Monday night.

At that point in the year, each game could seesaw them in or out of the playoffs as a wild card candidate, if we are to work under the assumption that Buffalo or New York are atop the division standings. Upsetting the Chiefs would be a remarkable feat, but this could simply be looked at as a measuring stick opportunity for New England to see how far off they are from truly contending against the NFL's elite.

For the second season in a row, the Patriots will head to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders. Of course, you remember what happened against this team last season when Jakobi Meyers inexplicably lateraled the football directly into the arms of Chandler Jones, who ran the ball back for a game-winning touchdown to propel the Raiders to victory as time in regulation expired. They'll look to avenge that loss here and, more importantly, could be fighting to keep their season alive.

New England's first month of the season is rough. Over the first four weeks, they'll host the Eagles and Dolphins before going on the road to face the Jets and Cowboys. There's a very real possibility that leads to an 0-4 start. Hosting the Saints in Week 5 should be looked at as a more winnable game, so they could be going to Sin City teetering at 1-4 and needing a win to turn the tide.

On top of this being a potential must-win so early in the season, there's also the Foxborough West narrative. The Raiders have several ex-Patriots across its organization, including head coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler along with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, wideout Jakobi Meyers, and pass rusher Chandler Jones. Not only that, but Tom Brady could very well be a limited partner of the Raiders by the time this game kicks off, adding even more spice to this head-to-head.

For the first time in the franchise's history, the Patriots will be heading to Germany for a Week 10 tilt against the Indianapolis Colts. This matchup will be played at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt as the NFL expands its reach into Europe and creates a unique opportunity for Bill Belichick's club. For those in New England, this will be an early morning game with kickoff set for 9:30 a.m. ET.

The Patriots are 3-0 in NFL International Series games and this will be their first games outside of the United States since 2017 when they took on the Raiders in Mexico.

With Indianapolis working in a first-year head coach and a rookie quarterback, this could be a strong opportunity for the team to continue its strong standing on the international stage and comes during a soft spot in the team's schedule, which could help claw them out of what is expected to be a tough first month of the year. New England will be on the bye following this head-to-head, so they could set themselves up to go into the mid-season break on a high note.

The biggest news of the offseason in the AFC East surrounded the New York Jets and their blockbuster trade for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. On paper, this deal sent the Jets rocketing up the power rankings, while shoving the Patriots down as the worst team in the division. This game within the first three weeks of the season could be an immediate statement for both sides to either declare New York has arrived or that New England will not go quietly into the night.

Rodgers has faced Bill Belichick and the Patriots just four times in his career and the two sides have split the head-to-head series at two games apiece. Rodgers has completed just 57% of his passes against New England's defense, which is the second lowest of any opponent in the quarterback's career. Will Belichick continue to have the quarterback guessing or will a reinvigorated Rodgers surge with his new team? It's one of the more fascinating games of the entire year and it comes within the first month.

There are a ton of factors that go into New England's first game of the year being the most anticipated. First, let's talk about Brady. On the day of the NFL's full schedule release, Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced that Brady will make his return to Foxborough to be celebrated for his career accomplishments following his retirement from football this offseason. This marks just the second time that Brady has been back to Gillette Stadium since leaving the organization in free agency back in 2020. The first came back in Week 4 of the 2021 season as a player and member of the Buccaneers. While that was more adversarial, this appearance by Brady can be more of a celebration of his 20-year run with the franchise and six Super Bowl titles.

Because of Brady, this is already the hottest ticket in the NFL.

As for the game, it's going to be interesting to how this 2023 Patriots team looks. Will the offense look like a more cohesive unit under new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien? Can any of the new skill position players or ascending players make an immediate impact? Does Mac Jones look more like the quarterback from last year or his rookie season? We'll finally get a sense of where things are tracking when the team hits the field.

Lastly, the Patriots draw one of the NFL's elite teams in the Philadelphia Eagles, who were just in the Super Bowl. That adds even more intrigue to this game, especially when history tells us that Philly could be on upset alert. Since Super Bowl XXXIV, the Super Bowl runner-up has gone 8-14 SU in Week 1, including last year when the Bengals were upset by the Steelers in Cincinnati.

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