Is the Patriots Defense a REGRESSION Candidate in 2026?

A year ago at this time, the New England Patriots looked like a potentially frisky team that could make its way to the playoffs with a couple of breaks. Now they're the reigning AFC Champions with the weight of expectations on them once again for the first time since Tom Brady left for Tampa. They certainly understand the stakes and did what they weren't simply a one-year wonder this offseason, headlined by the trade for A.J. Brown. Will that be enough to not only hold off the Buffalo Bills, but to reach the heights they did last season? Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman preview the 2026 Patriots on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
0:14 Offseason in 60 seconds
0:44 What are you most excited to watch?
0:55 AJ Brown & Romeo Doubs
5:33 What are you monitoring in the first month?
5:41 Will Campbell & offensive line
6:31 “Big beefy boy”
7:16 Run game
9:01 Zak Kuhr’s defense
10:35 Sorry, Brady Cook
12:27 What’s keeping you up at night?
14:11 Christian Gonzalez
16:30 Drafting issues?
22:30 What does success look like for this team?

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