It’s been too long, New Engand Patriots. We’ve missed you.

You could tell head coach Jerod Mayo was anxious to, as he said, “turn the page” from the Jets debacle. It was Mayo’s first time dealing with the Thursday Night problem of the short time between games, and either he nor his team handled that well. Mayo’s not a big walk-through guy.

“This was more like a normal week where we went out there Wednesday in pads, had a good practice, had a good practice (Thursday) as well.”

But the heat will continue if the Patriots have another non competitive effort. They’re starting former Denver practice squad player Demontrey Jacobs (who?) at left tackle, as Verderian Lowe is out. With the Niners’ Nick Bosa licking his chops, this can’t bode well. The Patriots may be saying privately the clock has started on Drake Maye eventually supplanting Jacoby Brissett, but Bosa has already started his clock. Get ready, he’s coming. But we’ll know a little more about these Patriots after this one.

As for the picks,we’re stuck in neutral here with three straight 4-3 weeks to start. At least we’re consistent:

NINERS 27, PATRIOTS 21

It won’t be a blowout – remember how last year’s Patriots flopped with several no -shows – but eventually, despite all their injuries, the 49ers will prevail. It’s amazing what they’ve lost, beginning with Christian McAffrey. The Patriots will hang tough. Just tough to see a win here.

DENVER 23, JETS 21

Upset special. Why not? Jets are rusty from the 10 day layoff, and they’ve already got one road upset win (at Tampa) under their Bo Nix belts. Why not two?

RAVENS 30, BILLS 27

Buffalo is feeling itself right now, and they should. But the Ravens picked up a must-win at Dallas – granted, the Cowboys aren’t what they were last year – but we can see a Buffalo letdown and a focused Lamar Jackson.

CHIEFS 23, CHARGERS 16

Jim Harbaugh’s team has played well defensively, holding teams to 11 points a game. Of course, they’re only scoring 19.3 a game, and they’ll need more than that to beat Mahomes & Co. Of course, the Chiefs better get Travis Kelce untracked, too.

PACKERS 24, VIKINGS 17

Could this be Malik Willis vs. Sam Darnold at Lambeau Field? Oh for the Rodgers-Kirk Cousins days. But in this case, we’ll go with the home team, which may or may not have Jordan Love ready at to get job back from Willis. One of these bubbles has to burst, right?

LIONS 27, SEAHAWKS 24

The Seahawks under coach Mike Macdonald have been gritty, tough and, of course, fortunate with the schedule and opposing teams’ woes (Miami without Tua). Detroit has another national spotlight and special blue helmets for this one. C’mon, how can we pick against that?

BENGALS 30, PANTHERS 17

Andy Dalton vs. his former team. The Bengals aren’t what we thought they were, but can they be in such dire straits to lose to the Panthers? Maybe, with the difference the QB change made, but we think Burrow pulls this one out.

LAST WEEK: 4-3

SEASON: 12-9

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