NFL Insider: Patriots Poised to Make Playoffs, Win AFC East?!

Sports Illustrated predicts the New England Patriots will not only make the playoffs this season, but also win their division.

Maybe not exactly worst to first, but the New England Patriots have a chance to greatly improve this season. For several reasons:

*Remember, they were only two plays from being 10-7 last year instead of 8-9. The "Lunatic Lateral" in Las Vegas and Rhamondre Stevenson's fumble at the 5-yard line on Christmas Eve cost the Pats two wins and kept them out of the playoffs.

*On offense, they've subtracted Matt Patricia and added Bill O'Brien.

*DeAndre Hopkins?

*On defense, they drafted projected star cornerback Christian Gonzalez to a Top 10 unit that led the NFL with seven touchdowns.

*And there's NFL history, which suggests - on average - six new teams make the playoffs each season. For example, who saw the Seattle Seahawks' resurgence a year ago?

Taking all those points into consideration, Sports Illustrated is ranking the Pats as one of its six team to make this year's playoffs after missing in 2022. Why?

Explains SI NFL writer Connor Orr:

In my 100 predictions column a few weeks ago, perhaps the boldest one (outside of projecting referee Carl Cheffers to explore a career in Americana music) was that the Patriots would win the AFC East. I’ll stand by that prediction for now because, as I wrote, I feel like that division is going to be a four-car pileup. While the Bills are a cut above everyone else, I don’t see them as invincible. I see this division as uniquely predisposed to injuries. Josh Allen plays a very physical quarterback style. Aaron Rodgers is 39. Tua Tagovailoa struggled with repeated head injuries last year. New England seems like the kind of team good enough to give everyone else a hard time and deep enough, especially on defense, to weather the inevitable ups and downs of a season.

You read that right. SI not only think the Pats will make the playoffs but also win a division that owner Robert Kraft believes is the toughest in the league.

SI's six bounce-back playoff teams for 2023:

1. Los Angeles Rams

2. New England Patriots

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

4. Atlanta Falcons

5. Green Bay Packers

6. Tennessee Titans

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