Patriots Bulletin Board Fodder: The NFL's Own Preseason Power Rankings Has the Defending AFC Champions at No. 12

Some times in this business, like practically any other, you've got to go back to your roots. A comic can come up with new material. A filmmaker can push boundaries in some new genre. A band can work in songs from their new album. But you've got to stay true to yourself. Because the audience is all basically Homer Simpson seeing Bachman Turner Overdrive. We want no new crap. We don't even want all of "Takin' Care of Business." We just want to get to the "workin' overtime" part:

Sometimes it's not all that easy. For a Patriots writer, the last few years haven't always been kind. And an old staple like "Bulletin Board Fodder" posts haven't been viable. I mean, they practically wrote themselves during the peak years when everyone was calling them cheaters, claiming Tom Brady was washed or arguing that the Dynasty was finished. For the most part since Brady left, predictions of catastrophe just meant you've been paying attention. 

Until last year.  When they went 14-3. Won three playoff games and made it to the Super Bowl. Finished second in the NFL in points, behind only the Rams. Finished with the fourth fewest points allowed. And had the second highest point differential, behind only the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. 

So you'd think it would all optimism, all the time with regards to this team. They're coming off a conference championship. Their quarterback was runner up MVP by one vote, and still hasn't turned 24. The 2025 Coach of the Year is still in charge. They followed up a pretty much historically successful 2025 offseason by loading up in free agency again. So they should be in the middle of a Category 5 storm of compliments raining down upon them. 

But you'd be dead wrong:

NFL.com - [T]hese rankings are coming in hot and fresh. There's no connection to past order here; we're starting anew together. …

Rank12  New England Patriots

I know: It seems absurd to place the reigning AFC champions outside of the top 10. But this isn't your typical conference title winner. New England rode a dreamlike turnaround to a Super Bowl LX appearance on a vehicle that was all but guaranteed to swap out a few key parts once the journey ended. Stefon Diggs, Garrett Bradbury, K'Lavon Chaisson, Khyiris Tonga, Jahlani Tavai, Anfernee Jennings and Jaylinn Hawkins are all gone. Each of those individuals played a key role in the Patriots' run to the Super Bowl, and the fallout from that defeat -- in which New England was clearly overmatched by Seattle -- came with justifiable questions about whether their run was a fluke (and a product of a soft schedule). That said, the team still has MVP runner-up Drake Maye, added star receiver A.J. Brown to a WR group that also welcomed Romeo Doubs, and bolstered the offensive line with free agent pickup Alijah Vera-Tucker and first-round selection Caleb Lomu. There's still plenty of reason to feel good about the Pats' outlook; I just need them to prove doubters wrong before moving them up in these rankings.

Thank you, NFL. I'm not even mad. I'm impressed you could swallow this argument enough to publish it.

Giphy Images.