Are Patriots truly better than last year? Yes, and here are six reasons why

Have you heard it’s different down in Foxboro in 2025?

You probably have. Us hacks have only told you 2,744 times that it’s a different “vibe,” or that there’s a palpable “energy” or a “sense of purpose and urgency” that SHOULD help the Patriots break the five-win barrier for the first time since 2022.

(I just realized that the team’s total win output from 2022 to 2024 is the same as 2007: 16).

You don’t have a press pass, but you don’t really need one to sense the same thing we’re seeing. It oughta be better.

But there’s that itch, that nag. That annoyance, like the edge of a T-shirt tag digging into the knob at the base of your neck. You’ve sensed "different" before. And it was. But it wasn’t better.

You imagine Lucy Van Pelt and her cruel treatment of Charlie Brown. You don’t want to be Charlie Brown again.

How can you be SURE this time is different? What’s tangible, unassailable, solid proof that this year’s model is going to be better?

Because you bought Bill Belichick’s summer of ’22 assurance that Mac Jones was about to explode. We bought it too. Check this out from Day 1 of that training camp … “Phil … there’s a vibe to this team. There’s an energy…” Holy crap.

You bought that the return of Bill O’Brien in 2023 would turn things around. You swallowed hard and tried to envision that Jerod Mayo was going to capture hearts and minds and send the team in a more functional, post-Bill direction. None of the above occurred.

So what’s truly better now?

Here are a half-dozen, take-it-to-the-bank, dead-mortal lock reasons this Patriots team won’t leave you alternating between rage and the fetal position on Sundays this fall.

New broom swept clean

There’s an entirely new leadership council ready to ascend. These were the team’s 2024 captains: David Andrews, Ja'Whaun Bentley, Jacoby Brissett, Deatrich Wise Jr., Jabrill Peppers, and Joe Cardona. One player (Peppers) is returning. Two other long-term Patriots (Jonathan Jones and Davon Godchaux) are also gone.

I’m in no way intimating that these guys weren’t good leaders. Undrafted guys like Jones and Andrews, a fifth-rounder like Bentley, a fourth-rounder like Wise, a friggin’ Navy man like Cardona who all ascended to vital roles? Those are guys worth listening to and following.

But they’d seen some things and been through the wringer since 2019. Poor David Andrews was the guy who – in 2022 and 2023 – was the first guy out to meet the media after grinding for three hours and explain what chaos happened that week. They’d been beaten down by a half-decade of losing.  

And while it’s a sobering reality that there are no players remaining from the last Super Bowl-winning team, it’s a reality that needs to be embraced. Those days are over. Clinging to the past and hoping to roll back the clock to the good old days is a fool’s errand.

Leading from the middle?

Twelve of the top 14 teams in rushing yards allowed per game made the playoffs in 2024. The Patriots were 23rd. The top-five teams on third down all made the playoffs. The Patriots were 26th. Thirteen of the top 15 teams in takeaway plus-minus made the playoffs. The Patriots were 28th (minus-11).

The Patriots' front-seven -- and more specifically their defensive front -- has the potential to make a massive leap this year. They signed Milton Williams, the plum defensive free agent. Christian Barmore looks tremendous after his 2024 bout with blood clots. Keion White has the potential to be a game-wrecker. Harold Landry has 31.5 sacks in his past three seasons.

Improve against the run and get off the field on third down. Be better than the worst team in football at generating sacks (which they were last season) and maybe the opponent passer rating goes down from 96.9 (26th in the league).

Create more pressure and see more hurried throws and maybe there are more than seven measly picks generated in 17 games. The trickle-down from the front should be a boon to the linebackers -- free agent add Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss, in particular.