Week 1 results drastically change outlook of Patriots' season

New England's offense looked immensely improved from last year under first-year OC Bill O'Brien. Against a Super Bowl-caliber defense with three offensive starters inactive, QB Mac Jones threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns while completing 64% of his passes. 

New England's most notable improvement was their red zone success. In 2022, the Patriots ranked last in red zone touchdown scoring (42.2%). Against Philadelphia, all three of New England's touchdowns came from inside the red zone, and overall, the team converted 60% of their red zone trips to touchdowns.

Following the game, CBS Sports NFL Analyst Tony Romo spoke highly of New England.

"I think the Patriots are for real this year. This team is going to be competitive all year... for the most part, nobody is walking over this team," Romo said.

Fellow AFC East teams did not have a promising opening week like the Patriots did. 

On Monday against their division rival Bills, New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon on the fourth play of his debut with the team, putting him out for the season. The next day, Jets HC Robert Saleh announced New York's starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.

"This is Zach Wilson's team," Saleh said. 

Last season, Wilson threw for six touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing 54.5% of his passes. Against the Patriots in 2022, across two games, Wilson completed less than 50% of his passes and threw three interceptions.

If the Patriots defense remains consistent and plays against Wilson — a below-average quarterback — like they did against Hurts — an MVP-caliber quarterback — then the Jets should be an easy team to take care of. 

In the same game, Buffalo QB Josh Allen played horrendously, throwing one touchdown to three interceptions and a fumble in a 22-16 loss. Although the Bills offense will likely rebound and return to their 2022 form, Allen's performance on Monday displayed the vulnerabilities that New England's high-caliber defense can attack when they play each other on Weeks 7 and 17.

The Patriots were listed at +800 to win the division in preseason betting odds by Yahoo Sports; a number way behind the odds for the Dolphins (+300), Jets (+250) and Bills (+120). In light of recent events, New England's chances to win the division title looked vastly different. 

If New England can go undefeated against the Wilson-led Jets as they have done for the past two years and split with the Bills as they did in 2021, assuming they win enough non-divisional games, then the Patriots may have a shot at the AFC East title, contrary to what many believed just a few days ago.