Finally, the 2026 NFL season starts.
Who's going to win it all?
Who's going to take home the awards?
Where are the Patriots going to finish?
Let's recap how we've done on the Patriots in the past few seasons...
2025: Bedard 9-8; Giardi 8-9. Reality: 14-3. ... Yeah, who saw the greatest injury luck ever coming?
2024: Bedard 9-8; Giardi 5-12. Reality: 4-13. ... Oops, Bedard. Obviously I was very high on Jerod Mayo.
2023: Bedard 7-10; Giardi 8-9. Reality: 4-13. ... Meh
So with that as background (I will go into more detail on how I see the Patriots' season going on Wednesday), here is how we see things playing out this NFL season, and we offer our NFL and Patriots individual award winners:
BEDARD'S PICKS
AFC EAST
Patriots 11-6
Bills 11-6
Dolphins 2-15
Jets 2-15
AFC SEEDS
1. Broncos
2. Texans
3. Bengals
4. Patriots
5. Bills
6. Chargers
7. Chiefs
NFC SEEDS
1. Rams
2. Bears
3. Cowboys
4. Buccaneers
5. Seahawks
6. 49ers
7. Packers
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POSTSEASON
Wild Card