The New England Patriots are sitting at a shaky 1-2 to kick off the 2026 NFL season, and while a Week 4 win over the Buffalo Bills would calm a lot of the early-season jitters, that dream just got a whole lot harder. Not only is Drake Maye coming off another rough week, and they’ll be without A.J. Brown for at least another two weeks, but their defense just got hit with a brutal one-two punch that could sink their chances.
Defense Takes a Crippling Hit Against AFC East Rival
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke the news, and it’s a gut punch: the Patriots are rolling into Week 4 against Josh Allen and the Bills without standout defenders CB Christian Gonzalez and DT Christian Barmore. Yep, you read that right: both of them are out. Rapoport called it “horrible news,” and honestly, he’s not wrong. Being without just one of those guys would make stopping any offense a huge challenge. But now, against their AFC East rival, New England will be down both their best defensive lineman and their best defensive back. Like the game wasn’t tough enough already, this just cranked the difficulty up to eleven.
Underdogs Just Got More Under
Let’s be real, an upset in Buffalo was already looking pretty unlikely for a banged-up and shaky Patriots squad. Their chances were already questionable with Maye’s recent struggles, but this update on Gonzalez and Barmore officially cements their status as serious underdogs in this Week 4 matchup. With a surging Bills team and one of the best offenses in the game coming to town, a 1-3 record is looking very, very likely for New England. This is not a good setup for them at all.
The Patriots are going to have to pull off a road upset without their top defensive players this Sunday. And it’s not just about this week. They need Gonzalez and Barmore back soon, because if they don’t return quickly, future games against the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and Chicago Bears are going to be questionable at best for them, too.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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