Patriots Earn Yet Another Bullish Prediction Fans Will Love

The NFL officially released the 2025 schedules for all 32 teams on Wednesday night, and let's just say things are looking pretty good for the New England Patriots.

The Patriots rank 30th in the NFL in terms of strength of schedule, as their opponents had a combined winning percentage of .429 in 2024. Given all of the improvements New England has made this offseason, some are naturally bullish on the Pats' chances next season.

Count ESPN's Adam Schefter among that group, and he dropped a rather bold prediction for the Patriots during a recent episode of his podcast.

“I’m gonna make a prediction here right now: The Patriots are gonna win more games this year than people realize. They’re gonna be a better team this year than people realize,” Schefter said. “(They) had a strong draft, loaded up, and Mike Vrabel knows how to get his team ready and compete. That’s why they made the move. I believe the Patriots will be one of the surprise teams this year.”

Schefter is far from the first pundit to claim that New England could sneak up on some people next fall. Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports went as far to say that the Pats could be the 2025 version of last year's Washington Commanders, who won 12 games and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

In spite of their easy schedule, it still seems hard to imagine the Patriots following a similar path to the Commanders. New England still has plenty of issues, particularly on the offensive side of the ball where question marks run rampant.

While it's easy to get caught up in all the hoopla, it's important to remember that the Pats have posted back-to-back four-win campaigns. It's going to be tough for them to suddenly become a playoff team this quickly.