It’s a weird moment in New England Patriots’ history. With Tom Brady leaving the team for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Patriots’ ability to hold onto the AFC division title is in question. The opinion that New England will not finish atop the AFC East is growing in popularity. The Buffalo Bills seem like team that’s best-equipped to challenge the Patriots.
But even their coach Sean McDermott believes New England is still the favorite to win the division.
“Anytime you bring up some of those words—expectations, pressure—number one, I think it shows you that people respect the way we’re doing things overall, which is nice,” McDermott told MMQB’s Albert Breer. “But number two, and just as important, the Patriots, look, they’ve won the division for X amount of years (11 straight and 16 of the last 17). … Until someone is able to win the division, to us, the Patriots remain the favorite. Why shouldn’t they? You tell me one reason why they shouldn’t.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, we really do,” he said. “And our players work hard, there’s no doubt about that. I think that’s the one thing that I can say: We embrace that we’ve got to earn things.”
McDermott is probably wise to temper expectations for his team. The Bills are probably a legit threat to New England in 2020. But Bill Belichick has made a habit of turning opponents’ promises of AFC East titles into bulletin board material. It’s probably best McDermott stays off the Patriots’ radar.
As noted by WEEI’s Ryan Hannable, the Patriots still have the best odds to win the AFC East (+125), just ahead of the Bills (+145). It will be interesting to see how those odds fluctuation in the coming months, with training camp and preseason helping shape expectations for New England, particularly at the quarterback position, where Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer will compete for the starting job.
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