I understand the Patriots looked shaky in the first half against the Dolphins on Sunday. I understand that the team has been dealing with an overabundance of injuries, and the status of top players remains in question on when – or if – they will return this season. But New England also stormed back and won the game. What I don’t understand is why the experts dropped the Pats down in the rankings this week.
The average of all these rankings turned out to be 10.5, which is reasonable. A fifth is too
low, at least at the moment, and 14th is too high. Beating Green Bay on Sunday should give them a nice boost.
But while the Dolphins may have been playing for pride, the Packers will be fighting to stay alive in the NFC playoff race. Both the Patriots and Packers are coming into Week 9 hot. QB Drake Maye has posted MVP-type numbers over the last four games, (11 touchdowns, 1 INT) and crossing the 110 passer rating mark in each game. QB Jordan Love (8 TDs, 3 INT) has also been productive in this stretch, averaging over 300 yards and 2 TDs per game with a strong completion percentage.
The Packers are 2.5 point road underdogs but a solid matchup to New England, both offensively and defensively. If the Pats can play a clean game with regards to turnovers and penalties, they can win this one by a touchdown.
GO PATS!!
AFC East:
Buffalo Bills (6-1) at Minnesota Vikings (6-1)
New England Patriots (5-3) vs. Green Bay Packers (5-3)
New York Jets (2-6) at Kansas City Chiefs (5-2)
Miami Dolphins (1-6) vs. Detroit Lions (5-2)
AFC Matchups:
Denver Broncos (6-2) at Carolina Panthers (3-4)
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) – Bye Week
Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) at Baltimore Ravens (4-4)
Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) at Atlanta Falcons (3-5)
Cleveland Browns (5-3) at New Orleans Saints (2-5)
Las Vegas Raiders (4-4) at San Francisco 49ers (6-1)
Houston Texans (2-5) at Los Angeles Chargers (0-7)
Indianapolis Colts (2-6) vs. Dallas Cowboys (3-5)
Tennessee Titans (1-7) – Bye Week
5th – Nate Davis (USA Today): They’ve only scored more than 30 points once this season as they navigate their offensive injuries. But Pats still play mean defense, giving up more than 30 points only once this season. [+3]
10th – Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): The Patriots had neither A.J. Brown nor TreVeyon Henderson to raise the big-play quotient in the offense, but Drake Maye still passed for 8.7 yards per attempt, and the team still rushed for 131 yards to beat the Dolphins. They won’t give the Bills much breathing room in the AFC East. [nc]
10th – Ralph Vacchiano (FOX Sports): The Patriots had to shake off an ugly first half before they finally started to pull away from the awful Dolphins. They were playing without their top two receivers and one of their two best running backs, so it probably was never going to be easy. With the Packers and the Lions coming up before the bye week, they better get healthy soon. It would really help if they could get No. 1 WR A.J. Brown back since they’ll need a lot more out of Drake Maye and the passing game to beat either of their next two opponents. Stat To Know: With their win over the Dolphins, the Patriots are now 8-1 vs. divisional opponents since the start of last season. [+1]
10th – Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): They avoided the South Florida trap, again. [+1]
11th – NFL Nation (ESPN): Best in-season trade acquisition ever: Edge Kyle Van Noy in 2016. Dealing a 2017 sixth-round pick to the Lions for Van Noy and a 2017 seventh-round pick helped bring a key cog onto a team that won the Super Bowl that season, and then won it again two seasons later. Van Noy played 67 games (53 starts) for the franchise, setting a team high in total tackles in 2018 (92). And he is still going strong in 2026 as a member of the Vikings. — Mike Reiss [-1]
11th – Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): They didn’t look great in the victory over Miami, but a win is a win. The defense is getting better by the week. [nc]
11th – Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): Biggest need: Interior offensive line.The Dolphins don’t have a good pass rush but they still pressured Drake Maye often in Week 8. Maye overcame that with a strong second half to lead the Patriots to a win, but it’s not like the line issues are going away. Guards Mike Onwenu and Alijah Vera-Tucker are on injured reserve. Getting a guard to help makes a lot of sense. The Patriots have also had some trade speculation on the selling side. Cornerback Carlton Davis III could be dealt, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. Davis returned from a neck injury for Week 8 and played 96.9% of the defensive snaps, but it’s possible the Patriots want to trade him for extra draft capital, which they could use to improve at guard. [nc]
11th – Nick Shook (NFL): The Patriots went to Miami — where they’ve historically found themselves in some hair-raising situations — played terribly in the first half and still found a way to win. Mike Vrabel addressed the team at halftime, inspiring a second-half showing that included 21 straight points to secure a mature victory that lesser, more-inexperienced teams wouldn’t have achieved. [-1]
12th – Ian Glendon (Full Press Coverage): New England overcame a 13-3 halftime deficit to beat Miami 24-19, with Drake Maye delivering both TD passes after the break. Patriots now have five wins and have responded well to setbacks. The slow start against a one-win opponent keeps them from making a bigger move. [-2]
14th – Conor Orr (SI): I truly do not understand how Kyle Williams was robbed of a touchdown on Sunday. While I am beginning to accept and almost enjoy the incredible inconsistency from crew to crew on the most basic of subjects, how we do not have a general idea of what constitutes a touchdown catch is beyond me. [-3]
AVG RANK: 10.5 [-0.2]
