Patriots Earn Wild Comparison to Super Bowl Contender

The New England Patriots are becoming a rather popular choice to make a playoff push next year thanks to a rather impressive offseason in which the Patriots have collected considerable talent, both via free agency and the NFL Draft.

However, as one might expect, many are skeptical of New England's playoff chances due to the fact that the Pats just posted back-to-back four-win campaigns and still have plenty of holes on their roster.

Don't tell that to Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports, though. He believes that the Patriots will be this year's Washington Commanders.

“Patriots, I’ve said this, they will be the Washington of the NFL,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “I predicted Washington and Denver would be the most improved teams. I’m predicting the Patriots will be the most improved team. Drake Maye actually has a coach and they’ve made major upgrade (on the) O- and D-line.”

The Commanders shockingly won 12 games and advanced all the way to the NFC Championship Game last winter, where they ultimately fell to the Philadelphia Eagles.

No one expected Washington to make it that far, as it was employing a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels and was recovering from a miserable 2023 campaign in which its defense ranked at the bottom of the league.

However, the Commanders caught lightning in a bottle, as Daniels put together a tremendous debut campaign and spearheaded an explosive Washington offense that caught the NFL by surprise.

Is it possible that New England could register similar results in 2025? It seems incredibly unlikely that the Pats will win 12 games next season, regardless of how soft their schedule may be. There are still numerous question marks surrounding the team, including whether or not Maye will fall victim to the dreaded sophomore slump.

Then again, this is the NFL, and sometimes very strange, unexpected things occur. Look no further than last year's Commanders to see that.