Whether Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer at QB, Patriots favored to reach playoffs again

The last time the New England Patriots missed the NFL playoffs was in 2008 when Tom Brady went down with a season-ending injury in Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pats still finished 11-5 that year – 11 wins is almost always going to ensure at least a Wild-Card spot, but just not that season. The Pats lost a Wild-Card tiebreaker with Baltimore and the AFC East championship tiebreaker with Miami.

Of course, Brady is now with the Tampa Bay Bucs, but the Patriots are still favored at -200 on the moneyline odds at William Hill sportsbook to reach the playoffs for a 12th straight season. The 11-year streak is the longest such in NFL history. That the Patriots don't make it – and they have the NFL's toughest strength of schedule with a combined opponents' 2019 winner percentage of .537 (137-118-1) – is +170.

What everyone wants to know is whether Bill Belichick will go sign free-agent quarterback Cam Newton or if he's truly comfortable with second-year Jarrett Stidham and journeyman veteran Brian Hoyer as his two QBs. Belichick said the team failing to draft a quarterback "wasn't by design."

Most believe Stidham will be the Week 1 starter at home vs. the Dolphins, but former Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst Rob Ninkovich said recently on the network that he expects Hoyer to start because Belichick prefers experience.

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"I think Brian Hoyer will be the starter Week 1," Ninkovich said. They're not practicing right now. There is no mini-camp. There's no offseason. There's no training camp — we don't know when that's gonna happen. If you have a veteran quarterback who has been in the system, understands what to expect what an NFL season is like, you're gonna want to go with a guy who has the veteran leadership (and) also what it takes to be in that building. Look, when you're a second-year player, you really don't realize what a season's like as a starter. You don't understand what it's going to take, and not having an offseason does not help."

That's just Ninkovich's opinion. Nearly every Patriots beat writer has reported that Stidham has the "inside track" on the job. Then again, Hoyer has spent nearly half of his 11-year NFL career with New England over three stints. He has just never started for the team and is 16-22 overall as an NFL starter.

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