One team is coming off a Super Bowl trip. The other just became the first 8-2 team in NFL history to miss the playoffs. Preseason football is back.
Bush’s Picks
INDNE
INDNE
OverUnder
Best BetPatriots
New England enters as the more talented, better-coached roster off a Super Bowl trip, and that gap should show even with backups holding down the fort early. Indianapolis is still sorting out its quarterback room and closed last season on a five-game skid. Lean Patriots here, for whatever a preseason opener is worth.
Colts
+Daniel Jones tracking to be ready for Week 1
+Sauce Gardner trade bolsters the secondary
+Jonathan Taylor still an elite workhorse back
−First 8-2 team in NFL history to finish under .500
−Closed 2025 on a five-game losing streak
−Richardson still working through vision issues from orbital fracture
Patriots
+Reached Super Bowl LX, Maye MVP runner-up
+Traded for A.J. Brown, instant WR1 upgrade
+Won 4 of last 5 covered games before the Super Bowl
−Blown out 29-13 in the Super Bowl, Maye sacked 6 times
−Tight end depth thin after Julian Hill's IR stint
−No. 3 running back job behind Stevenson/Henderson still open
Thursday, August 13's preseason opener at Gillette Stadium caps a busy week for both sidelines — the teams held a joint practice two days earlier, and by 7:30 PM ET it'll offer an early look at how each roster is shaking out. New England's headliner is obvious: Drake Maye, fresh off an MVP-runner-up season and a trip to Super Bowl LX, has spent camp building chemistry with new WR1 A.J. Brown, acquired from Philadelphia in a June trade. Indianapolis brings a murkier quarterback picture — Daniel Jones is working back from the Achilles tear that ended his first season in Indy, while camp has doubled as an audition for the No. 2 job between Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard.
Preseason openers rarely feature starters for long, so don't expect Jones or Maye to log heavy snaps here — this one's about players fighting for roster spots more than the names atop the depth chart. That matters plenty for a Colts defense still absorbing the cost of trading two first-round picks at last year's deadline for Sauce Gardner, and for a Patriots tight end room that got thinner after Julian Hill's knee injury pushed Eli Raridon into a bigger offseason role.
Show fees
7:30 PM ET
Spread
ML
Total
IND Colts
NE Patriots
Still, there's a real thread worth pulling if you squint past the backups: which team looks more put-together walking out of camp. New England is trying to build on the best season it's had in years. Indianapolis is trying to forget the worst finish in franchise history.
Indianapolis Colts
New England Patriots
Recent form.
The résumés speak for themselves. New England won 4 of its last 5 covered games before the Super Bowl reset the clock, riding a defense good enough to get it to Levi's Stadium. Indianapolis's last five looks like a different franchise entirely — five straight losses to close the year, including a 27-48 blowout loss to the 49ers and a finale that completed the collapse from an 8-2 start to a losing record.
Indianapolis Colts
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
New England Patriots
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Neither team is naming its Week 1 answers yet, and this game won't settle it. But watch how much Jones and the Colts' revamped secondary see the field, and whether Brown keeps building rapport with Maye — those are the reps that actually matter once the games start counting.
