Poll: Will the Patriots be the worst team in the NFL in 2024?

Happy NFL Eve to all those eagerly awaiting the start of the 2024 regular season tomorrow night.

We began our Patriots prediction polls yesterday by focusing on the offense.

Eighty three percent say Jacoby Brissett will start more games as QB1 this year, but 75% think Drake Maye will lead the Patriots to more wins.

Eighty percent think Rhamondre Stevenson capable of being a 1,000-yard back this season, while 75% said Ja'Lynn Polk will emerge as the team's best pass catching weapon.

The defense is the only known element of this team. It was one of the premier units in the NFL last season, despite the team finishing 4-13. While the loss of Christian Barmore is a big blow in the middle, 2nd-year player Keion White appears primed to step into the role, while the return of Christian Gonzalez should neutralize one half of the field in the passing game.

While Bill Belichick is no longer cooking up schemes on that side of the ball, in my mind, it should still be a top 10 defense in the NFL.

But as we saw last year, you can only get so far on stellar defensive play if your offense can't even muster a touchdown most weeks. While it won't be as atrocious as last year proved, the bar is still being set at "well if the Pats can just manage a way to score 17 points per week,"...so, yeah, it's still not a unit that will blow the doors off anyone.

Do I think the Patriots will prove to be the worst team in football? No. However, I'm anticipating a finish closer to the top of the draft board than the "in the hunt" graphic in the playoff picture.

It's gonna be a grind of a season. Drake will get in there at some point, and I think spark a few wins once he does so, but I'm not expecting drastic improvements in the win-loss department.

5-12 is my official prediction for the year, with a top 10 pick to follow (somewhere in the 6-8 range). I hope I'm wildly off base, but I doubt I'll be too far off.