Entering the 2020 regular season, the New England Patriots will have the toughest schedule throughout the NFL. Based upon teams’ 2019 final win-loss records, New England’s 2020 opponents have a winning percentage of .537. Furthermore, in addition to facing well rounded, winning teams, the Patriots will be matching up against a murderers’ row of play extending quarterbacks. While many questioned New England’s draft strategy of reloading their defense with early picks instead of acquiring offensive help, that strategy clearly reflects their 2020 schedule.
New England Patriots Schedule: Drafting Strategy Reflects Opponents
2020 Opposing Mobile Quarterbacks
| Week 1: Miami Dolphins | Tua Tagovailoa |
| Week 2: Seattle Seahawks | Russell Wilson |
| Week 4: Kansas City Chiefs | Patrick Mahomes |
| Week 7: Buffalo Bills | Josh Allen |
| Week 9: Baltimore Ravens | Lamar Jackson |
| Week 10: Houston Texans | Deshaun Watson |
| Week 11: Arizona Cardinals | Kyler Murray |
| Week 12: Los Angeles Chargers | Tyrod Taylor/ Justin Herbert |
| Week 14: Miami Dolphins | Tua Tagovailoa |
| Week 15: Buffalo Bills | Josh Allen |
Historically, the Patriots and Bill Belichick certainly have had their struggles when tasked with defending play extending quarterbacks. Additionally, after losing several key defensive pieces by way of free agency, New England is counting on their defensive rookies will have an immediate impact.
Players Added
Despite having one of the league’s top ranked defenses in 2019, the Patriots defensive front seven was old and slow. New England’s lack of defensive athleticism was seen as well as taken advantage of during last season’s losses to teams such the Ravens, Chiefs and Texans. The Patriots 2020 schedule will feature those same teams along with others which employ similar play extending quarterbacks. In an effort to combat their 2019 mobile quarterback struggles, Belichick turned to the draft and added several young, athletic defenders. New England took a highly athletic and versatile safety in Kyle Dugger, an explosive edge rusher in Josh Uche, as well as a fundamentally air tight linebacker in Anfernee Jennings.
Given the return of Devin McCourty, I would expect the Patriots not to ask a lot of Dugger in deep coverage. Instead, the 6-foot-1, 217 pound Dugger may be asked to play closer to the line of scrimmage as a speedy hybrid linebacker who can match up favorably against fast offenses. As for Uche, the Patriots have not had an edge defender with the same type of burst and pure pass rushing ability as the Michigan product since Chandler Jones. While Uche does not have the same length as Jones, he possesses similar qualities in terms of raw athleticism and quickness off the edge.
Lastly, Jennings brings strong fundamentals and smarts to New England’s defense and should be seen as Kyle Van Noy’s replacement. While Jennings lacks top end athleticism, he should fill the consistent edge setting role which players such as Van Noy and Rob Ninkovich have filled for the past several years.
The Patriots have very little room for error this season and given the youth of their defensive front seven, they may get off to a bumpy start. However, there is no doubting the fact which New England added several promising athletes to their defense. Belichick will have his work cut out for him in order to get this defense ready to face the gauntlet of mobile quarterbacks, but by adding athletic pieces, he is off to a solid start.
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