New England Patriots — 2026 season outlook, updated Oct 14, 2026.
New England Patriots finished the 2026 season 3-2.
New England Patriots: 14-3 regular season.
Based on verified play-by-play data (nflverse).
By the numbers — 2026
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2026 schedule
- Bye week 11 — see all 2026 byes.
- 27th-hardest schedule — opponents average 8.21 projected wins.
- Patriots backfield and handcuffs — depth chart, refreshed daily.
Patriots players we cover
Patriots 45, Raiders 17 — Week 5: Maye 26 of 34, Four Touchdowns
New England beat Las Vegas 45-17 at home, scoring touchdowns on 6 of 11 drives as Drake Maye went 26 of 34 for 374 yards and four touchdowns, with none of his throws charted interception-worthy; the run defense held the Raiders to 38 yards on 18 rush plays.
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More episodes
- Camp · Sep 3, 2026
Patriots Camp — Sep 3: Baringer Kept Sunday, Shelved Monday
New England kept Bryce Baringer on Sunday's 53 and put him on injured reserve Monday, signing seven-year veteran Mitch Wishnowsky to the practice squad the same day — the only one of Monday's twelve who had not been in camp. Two waiver claims, a tight end and a linebacker, cost two roster spots that were refilled within a day. On the Gonzalez contract, the player's side now says "getting close."
- Camp · Aug 31, 2026
Patriots Camp — Aug 31: Gonzalez Returns as the Standoff Goes Public
Christian Gonzalez is practicing again, and the story that replaced the injury is a contract standoff — the player calls it frustrating, the general manager says the highest-paid-cornerback offer still stands, and Adam Schefter reports the two sides haven't been close. Cut day around him brought three trades in six days, a third running back from outside the building, and a name our last episode never flagged: Harold Landry III, on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list.
- Camp · Aug 23, 2026
Patriots Camp — Aug 23: Maye Strings 13 Straight at the Eagles
Drake Maye went 15 of 18 against the Eagles' starting defense in joint practice, 13 of them in a row, and A.J. Brown caught all seven balls thrown his way against his old team. The line's one-on-one chart came back mostly green, the Patriots beat Philadelphia 24-21 in Saturday's game, and the quiet part stayed quiet: Christian Gonzalez has now gone two weeks without practicing.
- Camp · Aug 16, 2026
New England Patriots Camp Update — August 16: One Sack in 25 Dropbacks for Maye
The line passed its first external test against the Colts front — one sack across 25 Maye dropbacks — and A.J. Brown kept winning, this time against Sauce Gardner. But Christian Gonzalez has now missed a week with an injury the team won't describe, mid-negotiation, and the interior line lost two bodies in one preseason night.
- Camp · Aug 9, 2026
New England Patriots Camp Update — August 9: A.J. Brown Keeps Beating Christian Gonzalez Deep
The one integration the AFC champion's offseason depended on had a slow padless start — then the pads came on and Maye-to-Brown became the daily highlight reel, tested against an elite corner every rep. The hangover-priced-wrong thesis is aging well.
- 2026 Preview
New England Patriots 2026 Season Preview — Hangover, Priced Wrong
The market calls the Super Bowl loser a top-six contender and an underdog in its own division at the same time — the luck tax is real, but the best offense in football is realer.
- Season Review
Patriots 2025 Season in Review
14-3 regular season
- Draft Recap
9 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft
- Week 4
Patriots 29, Bills 26 — Week 4: Down Five, Then 73 Yards
New England won 29-26 at Buffalo, handing the Bills their first loss, as Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes and the passing game finished at plus 10.0 expected points after averaging minus 0.3 per play over the first three weeks; the go-ahead score was a 23-yard throw to Efton Chism on third and five with 1:55 left.
- Week 3
Patriots 6, Jaguars 35 — Week 3: Four Trips, Six Points
New England lost 35-6 at Jacksonville as last season's top-ranked passing game finished last of the 28 teams to play so far in Week 3 at minus 13.9 expected points, lost three turnovers, and scored six points on four drives that reached the Jacksonville 20.
- Week 2
Patriots 20, Steelers 3 — Week 2: A Strip Sack and Ten Stops
New England beat Pittsburgh 20-3 at home behind a pass defense worth minus 21.8 expected points on 44 pass plays, second-best of the 28 teams that have played Week 2, ten stops on twelve third downs, four sacks, and Elijah Ponder's 19-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
- Week 1
Patriots 10, Seahawks 13 — Week 1: Three Fourth-Quarter Picks
New England led 10-3 at the start of the fourth quarter in Seattle with the league's best offense from a year ago and lost 13-10, because Drake Maye threw three interceptions in the final fifteen minutes — the last one in the end zone from the Seattle 16 with 26 seconds left, at the end of a fifteen-play drive that had converted fourth-and-two and fourth-and-nine to get there.
- Week 3 · What Repeats
Patriots, Week 3 — What Repeats: Eight Loose Balls in Three Games
Charters marked 4 of Drake Maye's 25 throws in Jacksonville interception-worthy, and New England's 4 of 31 was the second-highest rate of any offense in Week 3 — his third straight week above his own 2025 rate — 8 in 80 throws this season against 14 in 492 last year — and they came against a defense that sent five or more rushers on 7 of 37 dropbacks, the fewest New England has faced.
- Week 2 · What Repeats
Patriots, Week 2 — What Repeats: Nineteen Light Boxes to Six
New England's defense showed a light box on 19 of Seattle's 20 designed runs in Week 1 and on 6 of Pittsburgh's 21 on Sunday, yet allowed about four yards per designed run both times, while the offense faced the second-lowest light-box share in the league and ran for 4.96 a designed run after finishing last in Week 1.
- Week 1 · What Repeats
Patriots, Week 1 — What Repeats: Maye Put Three Up for Grabs
The charting from Seattle says Drake Maye put 3 interception-worthy balls in the air on 33 throws — 9 percent, tied for the second-highest rate in the league in Week 1 and three times his 2.8 percent across all of last season — while New England's defense sent five or more rushers on 44 percent of Seattle's dropbacks, fifth-highest of the week, and Seattle ran play-action on 41 percent of its dropbacks.
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