After enjoying decades of success that culminated in six Super Bowl championships, the New England Patriots are currently in the midst of rebuilding their program from the ground up.
Once Tom Brady decided he wanted out, Bill Belichick and company pivoted toward a new era of Patriots football.
So far, the results have been less than stellar as the offense doesn’t look the same with Mac Jones leading the offense in place of Brady.
New England has quickly fallen behind the rest of the AFC East as the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Miami Dolphins all project to be contenders for this year’s Super Bowl.
As long as Belichick remains on the sidelines the Patriots will always be competitive, though how far they can actually go remains an open question.
While the team has shown some promise, insiders like Tom E. Curran of NBCSports Boston don’t believe they’re quite ready for the 2023 season.
How confident are you that the Patriots are ready for the regular season? 😬 @tomecurran explains why he's voting "not at all" on this EE poll. @philaperry @TomGilesNBCS and @trenni place their vote as well pic.twitter.com/o4rlM7yBew
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) August 25, 2023
Curran explains that the offensive line is a massive question mark as they have not been able to build much cohesion during the offseason due to injuries.
Cole Strange suffered an ankle injury in training camp and hasn’t played for weeks, while Mike Onwenu just came off the physically unable-to-perform list due to offseason ankle surgery.
The championship Patriots squads featured impressive offensive line play, though that hasn’t been the case in recent seasons.
A shaky o-line will give any quarterback trouble, though it also bleeds into the run game as well.
If New England’s linemen can’t get healthy, then they’ll be in for another long season.
NEXT: Reporter Identifies 1 Big Factor To Patriots' Success This Season
