Guest Patriots Column – 9 Down, 8 to Go
By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:
2026 has been anything but a banner year for the New England Patriots. The defending AFC Champions will likely relinquish that title at year’s end, currently sitting at 5-4, two games behind the division-leading Buffalo Bills and a litany of teams nipping at their heels for the seventh and final playoff spot.
Entering Week 9, the Patriots’ starters have missed a combined 49 games due to injury, nearly doubling the league average of 25.5. Their inability to field a healthy unit rivals the Los Angeles Chargers (0-8), Washington Commanders (2-5-1), New Orleans Saints (3-5), Carolina Panthers (3-5), and Houston Texans (3-5).
Why the bottom hasn’t fallen out yet is beyond me. My guess is that, despite all the setbacks, Drake Maye has yet to miss a game, and the coaching triumvirate of Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, and Zak Kuhr has been excellent. Let’s not forget offensive line coach Doug Marrone, who is coaching a unit missing Mike Onwenu, Ben Brown, Morgan Moses, and Greg Van Roten. Over the last three weeks, they’ve played castoffs like Matt Pryor and Walter Rouse, and the results have been as expected.
While there are legitimate concerns and mistakes made when constructing this roster, what has primarily led to the downfall of the Patriots is bad luck. If their health suddenly turns around, they’ll be right back in the thick of things, especially since they’re missing critical pieces on the interior and skill-position players in A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.
The remaining games on their schedule are daunting, to say the least. They face the Detroit Lions (6-2), the aforementioned winless Chargers, the Buffalo Bills (7-1), the Minnesota Vikings with Kirk Cousins now under center (6-2), the Kansas City Chiefs with Josh Downs now lining up on the outside (6-2), the New York Jets (2-7), and the Denver Broncos (7-2), before finishing with the lowly Miami Dolphins (1-7).
This is the meat and potatoes of their first-place schedule. There is still time to turn the ship around; it’s only a matter of whether the cavalry can arrive in time.
Vinny Jace is a special contributor to The15net.com.
