Sit down and take a deep breath with the next sentence you are about to read:

This past weekend was the final weekend/Sunday without NFL Football until Feb. 7, 2027. That’s the Sunday in between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl.

Oh, and now the Patriots and Christian Gonzalez have kissed and made up to the tune of $102 million in guaranteed money.

OK, you can exhale. We know, it’s a lot to absorb. But your wait is nearly over.

Actually, we only have to wait a few days for NFL football that matters when your New England Patriots visit the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl meltdown by New England. At least this one isn’t in Santa Clara.

And we don’t think the Patriots will melt down, either.

But it’s going to be a long and winding road for the the Patriots. We don’t think they’re going to return this year to the Super Bowl, simply because the NFL is cyclical in nature. That being said, it might be tough to come up with a team in the AFC that’s better.

Denver? Maybe. The Chiefs? They crashed and burned last year, Patrick Mahomes ACL, etc. Maybe, but we think there’s something missing there. Like youth. Buffalo? New coach, had been on staff, that never seems to work, but new stadium, the most expensive ticket, etc. and the thought Josh Allen could become the next Dan Marino.

Baltimore? That’s the great unknown, how the Ravens will play with a new coach not named Harbaugh. The Chargers? They’re still the Chargers, even with a coach named Harbaugh.

Houston? The defense is great, the QB stinks.

You get the picture. We’re trying to talk ourselves into the Patriots not returning to the Super Bowl, in Los Angeles on February 14. Injuries will be an issue for everyone.

“We have guys that are returning, our core guys, and understand that the journey’s going to be a lot more dificult just based on how we finished,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “But I think that if you can prepare, play well and give yourself a chance to win, focus on that particular game and then move on to the next week and treat that independently of anything else, figure out who’s available.”

It will be an interesting journey. It was a tumultuous off-season, especially for Vrabel. Training camp was covered with the big cloud of the Christian Gonzalez contract, not settled as of this writing but we feel it will be, if it hasn’t been already. It’s not a Patriots existence without drama, right?

And just think, next year the contract du jour will be Drake Maye’s.

But this could be a huge year for the likeable Patriot signal caller. He’s got plenty of people to throw to. He’s got an offensive line that we think will be better than last year’s.

That being said, there are just teams like the Patriots did a year ago that simply defy logic and come out of nowhere. You never know how a 53-player team is going to act.

“Just have to stay consistent and continue to improve,” Vrabel said. “The teams that do that are usually the ones that play in January.”

Well, here’s who we think those will be:

AFC

Division Champions: Patriots, Bengals, Texans, Broncos.

Wild Cards: Bills, Ravens, Chiefs.

AFC Champion: Broncos.

NFC

Divison Champions: Cowboys, Packers, Saints, Rams.

Wild Cards: Seahawks, Panthers, Eagles.

Conference Champions: Rams.

Super Bowl: Rams over Broncos. If the Rams don’t win it this year, just when the heck will they?

So there you go. It all starts Wednesday, and the long journey begins. We never thought the journey last year would end in Santa Clara.

That’s why you can take all those above predictions and have a good chuckle when you pull them out in February.

Don’t kid yourself, it’ll be here way before you know it.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X at @Telegraph _TomK.