Patriots Will Open Season at Home Against the Texans

The NFL is set to unveil the schedules of all 32 teams later tonight. However, that hasn’t stopped the leaks from happening. Now, courtesy of those leaks, we know the Patriots full 2018 schedule. The Patriots will kick off the regular season at home against Bill O’Brien, DeShaun Watson, and the Houston Texans. In addition, they will end the year at home against their AFC East rival, the New York Jets.

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Quick Thoughts:

• The later the bye week, the better. Having the bye come during Week 11 is a good thing for the Patriots as they are generally fortunate in that regard. This year, the timing comes right before the home stretch which includes four divisional games and matchups with the Vikings and the Steelers.
• The toughest stretch may be the middle of December as they have back-to-back road games against the Steelers and Dolphins.
• The Patriots will have five nationally televised games in the first nine weeks of the season. Fortunately, there will only be one Thursday Night matchup. They will appear three times on Sunday Night Football and once on Monday Night against the Bills.
• Where’s Denver? For the first time since 2011, the Patriots will not face the Broncos in the regular season. With Case Keenum behind center, there is a chance they could eventually meet in the playoffs.

Key Games:

Week 2; vs. Jaguars

An early season rematch from the year before. The Jaguars made a surprising run to the AFC Championship last season but ultimately fell short against the Patriots as they went on to Super Bowl 52. It won’t quite be the same drama as last January, but the Jaguars will certainly be looking to make an early season statement.

Week 3; at Detroit

This will be the first look the Patriots have at the Detroit Lions and their new head coach, Matt Patricia. Of course, Patricia has spent his entire professional career with the Patriots until agreeing to join the Lions following the Super Bowl. In addition, former Patriot and Eagles running back, LeGarrette Blount will face his former team as well.

Week 9; vs. Green Bay

Perhaps the most anticipated matchup of the entire season for the entire NFL, not just the Patriots. This will be the Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers show as the top two quarterbacks in the league square off in a rare matchup. The two teams last met in Week 13 of the 2014 season. In that game, Rodgers outdueled Brady en route to a 26-21 win. The Patriots would lose one more game that year on their way to their fourth Super Bowl Championship.

Week 10; at Tennessee

Not only is this another rematch from last year’s playoff run but you have the Patriots facing off against running back, Dion Lewis and cornerback, Malcolm Butler. Both of whom signed with the Titans in the offseason. Butler’s departure from the team was highly publicized so it will certainly be an emotional moment from that standpoint. Oh, and there is the small fact that former Patriot-great, Mike Vrabel, is entering his first season as coach of the Titans.

Way Too Early Record Projection

Considering the fact that we are still six days away from the NFL Draft, trying to project a team’s record at this point is pointless. So naturally, we are going to do it anyways. The Patriots will once again benefit from the later bye week and will not be faced with a gauntlet-like run of road games to close out the season. This looks like a 13-3 record at the end of the day for the Patriots with losses to the Lions, Vikings, and on the road in Miami.

– Ian Glendon is the Editor-In-Chief of Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @iglen31 Follow @FPC_Patriots and Facebook.