There’s never a dull moment with the New England Patriots, is there?

They lost a tough one last Sunday night in Seattle. Then we had the disheveled look from head coach Bill Belichick in Wednesday’s press conference; it was one of those, “Oh, bleep, I have to do this presser on line, don’t I”.

Then center David Andrews shows up at practice on Thursday with his thumb and hand encased in a wrap or cast, and we learned on Friday he had surgery to repair a reported break and will try to snap with his other hand.

But fear not, the Patriots have household name Hjalte Froholdt ready to save the center day.

“Hjalte’s had a good offseason,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Friday. “He’s still a young player that has a lot of room to grow and works very hard at it … hopefully he’ll be able to compete for playing time here as he continues to improve.”

That’s reassuring, right? Then, of course, there’s Las Vegas, an improved team with a character of a coach in Jon Gruden. Gruden made news this week by admitting he’s had the coronavirus.

Oh, this should be a fun game. But for yours truly, it wasn’t a fun Week 2 with a sub-.500 record.

Let’s hope for improvement this week:

PATRIOTS 27, RAIDERS 17

Sure, QB Derek Carr has had a great start with Las Vegas and the Raiders look improved. But right now the Cam Newton Patriots seem like they are on track to being a solid team that could win as many as a dozen games. Vegas is due for clunker having to play after a short week thanks to their Monday night win.

Fun fact: Raiders defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Jr. is the son of former Patriots defensive back Maurice Hurst.

CHIEFS 34, RAVENS 31

One heckuva matchup, and other than the Patriots the Ravens have been the Chiefs’ toughest matchup. But they’ve managed to win every time, and Pat Mahomes wins the battle on the road on Monday night.

TEXANS 24, STEELERS 20

Another good matchup, and let’s call this an upset special. Houston isn’t great, but the Texans are too good to start off 0-3. The Steelers are certainly worthy of a 3-0 start, but Pittsburgh often takes a good thing and ruins it. In Deshaun Watson we trust here, just a feeling.

PACKERS 30, SAINTS 27

Aaron Rodgers is on fire, there’s no denying that. Drew Brees isn’t. Seems pretty simple; if this were a game with screaming fans in the SuperDome we’d think otherwise. The Pack looks back.

SEAHAWKS 37, COWBOYS 35

No miracle finish for Dallas in this one but they stay toe-to-toe with Russell Wilson & Co. We’ve said it before, the Seahawks look like legit Super Bowl contenders, despite some of the defensive losses they’ve suffered. We think they can handle it.

BUCCANEERS 26, BRONCOS 13

Denver is going with the immortal Jeff Driskel at quarterback after a shoulder injury to the otherwise impressive Drew Lock. Tampa Bay is going with a guy named Brady. Need we say more?

BILLS 23, RAMS 17

The Rams looked like they’d continue their descent since the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, but evidently not. But people are really talking up Bills quarterback Josh Allen these days. Home team edge. Bills need this one too with their next three games being at Vegas, at Tennessee and home vs. Chiefs.

LAST WEEK: 3-4

SEASON RECORD: 7-7

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow King on Twitter (@Telegraph_TomK).

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