New England Patriots schedule 2020: 3 Toughest, 3 easiest games

With the New England Patriots learning of their full 2020 regular season schedule last week, here are the toughest and easiest games for New England.

There is no denying that the New England Patriots will look much different during the 2020 NFL season and in the years ahead after a busy offseason.

With a new quarterback set to take over the offense this year following the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency this offseason, it will be interesting to see if Bill Belichick and company take a step back this season or if the new quarterback under center will be able to pick things up without a beat throughout the regular season.

New England is coming off of once again claiming an AFC East title in 2019 with a record of 12-4 overall, finishing ahead of the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins in the division standings. The Patriots, however, were surprisingly bounced in the opening round of the playoffs while seeing their season end much earlier than they hoped.

Now with a multitude of new faces both on offense and defense set to appear in Foxborough this season, New England will have its work cut out for it to try and defend its division title and return to the playoffs in 2020.

With the Bills improving this offseason, most notably with the acquisition of wide receiver Stefon Diggs in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo has beefed up its offense and could be in a position to make a run at an AFC East title this year. The Jets and Dolphins are still somewhat in rebuilding modes and are trying to get on the upswing of that process this year, which could play in the favor of the Patriots once again in 2020.

Last week, New England learned of who it will play and when throughout the course of the regular season schedule as it is set to begin the post-Brady era. And the schedule looks tough for the Patriots while once again facing some stellar AFC and NFC opponents.

New England will have the most difficult strength of schedule among any of the NFL teams in 2020, which could mean it might take a step back from what it accomplished the last few seasons.

With the regular season schedule set for the Patriots, let’s take a dive into that league-hardest schedule and point out three of the toughest and easiest games for New England this year.