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Listen to NFL Vegas sharps RJ Bell and Steve Fezzik join Jonas Knox on ‘Straight Outta Vegas’ to preview the 13th ranked team on their 2020 win/total prediction rankings, the New England Patriots.
For the first time since 2001, the New England Patriots will roll into a season without Tom Brady starting at quarterback as the last 19 seasons saw an immaculate two decades of 19 double-digit win seasons, 17 AFC East division title, 9 AFC Championships, and 6 Super Bowls.
The details into Brady’s shocking split with the organization were a bit peculiar, as reports continue to hemorrhage surrounding his disillusionment with management, and his suspicions about the front office brushing off Brady’s desires towards personnel. Regardless of how it went down, the New England dynasty will certainly go down as arguably the greatest in sports history.
The 2020 Patriots are easily the league’s most fascinating team from a betting perspective considering 8 players have already opted-out on the season, and it’s impossible to know what version of Cam Newton they will be getting after an offseason with no OTA’s or preseason.
The most notable of opt-outs being Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung, who were arguably their two best defensive players.
Then there comes a scenario of the Patriots potentially ‘tanking’ the season as some in the media have discussed, as the 2020 NFL Draft will boast a loaded quarterback with names the likes of Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Jamie Newman, Brock Purdy, and Trey Lance potentially becoming available to New England early in the first round in the event of a poor season.
Newton signed a one-year deal in July, and will battle incumbent backup Jarrett Stidham for the starting job. Newton won the 2015 NFL MVP, of course, but has gone just 23-24 since their Super Bowl loss to Denver.
The Patriots’ notable offseason acquisitions were Newton from the Panthers, quarterback Brian Hoyer from the Colts, and running back Lamar Miller from the Texans. In the Draft the Patriots traded out of the first round, and then selected safety Kyle Dugger from Division-II’s Lenoir-Rhyne, and Michigan linebacker Josh Uche in the second round.
Their key losses included Brady, Phillip Dorsett, Ben Watson, James Develin, Ted Karras, Danny Shelton, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins, Elandon Roberts, Duron Harmon, Obi Melifonwu, and Stephen Gostkowski.
Their OVER/UNDER for wins is 9, their odds to win the Super Bowl are 18/1, odds to win the AFC are 11-1, 13-10 to win the AFC East, and -205 to make the playoffs.
Check out the entire segment above.