Two quotes from the rankings stuck out this week:
“They just keep on winning,” and also,
“…the Patriots have the No. 1 defensive strength of schedule in the NFL to date.”
Those who continue to harp on the
soft schedule when conjuring up reasons to dismiss the Patriots winning streak and record ignore two points. 1. Teams can only play the teams on their schedule, and 2. The Patriots have played some of the toughest defenses in the league en route to 9-2. Drake Maye has put together MVP-caliber stats against some strong blitz-heavy and pass rush teams — and without bonafide stars to bail him out on offense. This roster as a unit is playing well above the sum of its parts, and it’s been a glorious ride.
With the 9-2 Denver Broncos on a bye week, the Patriots have a chance to leap into first place in the AFC. New England needs to take care of business in Cincinnati and come home with a win. The loss of defensive standout Milton Williams will be felt, but the team is hoping Christian Barmore and others will step up to fill his role. The Bengals are dealing with their own injuries plus the potential loss of top WR J’Marr Chase, who will learn later today if his suspension will be reduced to a fine.
Two other games to keep an eye on will be Bills at Texans and Colts at Chiefs. The Patriots currently control their own destiny and can literally win their way to the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Broncos, Colts, and Bills are right on their heels as shadow opponents each week. WR Kayshon Boutte (toe) and RB Rhamondre Stevenson are expected to return to practice Wednesday, but it’s unclear if they will be ready to make the trip to Cincinnati. The Pats are currently favored by 7 points. I believe they will pull out another win – and cover – on the road to return to Foxborough at 10-2.
GO PATS!!
Around the AFC East:
New England Patriots (9-2) at Cincinnati Bengals (3-7)
Buffalo Bills (7-3) at Houston Texans (5-5)
Miami Dolphins (4-7) – Bye Week
New York Jets (2-8) at Baltimore Ravens (5-5)
AFC Matchups:
Denver Broncos (9-2) – Bye Week
Indianapolis Colts (8-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (5-5)
Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) at Chicago Bears (7-3)
Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) – Bye Week
Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) at Arizona Cardinals (3-7)
Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) vs. Cleveland Browns (2-8)
Tennessee Titans (1-9) vs. Seattle Seahawks (7-3)
2nd – Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): They just keep on winning. Soft schedule or not, they have the look of a team headed for the top seed in the conference. [+1]
2nd – Nate Davis (USA Today): Their league-leading nine victories are already more than they won the last two seasons … combined. And with the AFC’s easiest remaining schedule on the way out, quite conceivable that the Pats get to 13 or 14 wins. —Only 2 head coaches in the Super Bowl era have started 8-2 or better after taking over a team that won fewer than 5 games in the previous season: Mike Vrabel in 2025 with the Patriots and Andy Reid in 2013 with the Chiefs. [+1]
3rd – NFL Nation (ESPN): Who’s under the most pressure: Defensive tackle Christian Barmore. The Patriots just placed starting defensive tackle Milton Williams on injured reserve because of a high ankle sprain, and he has arguably been their best defensive player. Barmore, a five-year veteran who is coming off a game in which he tied his career high with five pressures, will be critical in filling the void. After being limited to four games in 2024 because of blood clots, Barmore has played 63.6% of the defensive snaps this season. — Mike Reiss. [+1]
3rd – Conor Orr (SI): While the combined records of New England’s opponents are starting to cause people to doubt the legitimacy of this run, consider this: the Patriots have the No. 1 defensive strength of schedule in the NFL to date. This is not SMU coasting en route to the college playoffs. [+1]
4th – Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): The Patriots didn’t need to do a lot to beat a shell of a Jets team on Thursday might. Drake Maye kept up his MVP momentum even on an average night. [nc]
4th – Ralph Vacchiano (FOX Sports): Drake Maye played like an MVP again (albeit against the Jets) and the team just keeps rolling. But their schedule is just so soft. It looks like what would happen if Alabama suddenly dropped down to Division III. [+2]
5th – Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): They should be 11-2 at the bye. [+2]
6th – Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): It took Vrabel and his staff almost three seasons to finally feature Derrick Henry in Tennessee. It didn’t take so long for TreVeyon Henderson, but it’s still weird how a smart coaching staff couldn’t see what Henderson could bring to the offense until the Patriots were forced to use him. [+2]
6th – Eric Edholm (NFL.com): Individual award recognition tends to come after team success, which feels like the way it should be, and the Patriots’ two biggest figures in this wondrous season are up for two of the most prestigious honors. Drake Maye has made himself a legitimate MVP candidate, emerging from that ever-fascinating group of six first-round quarterbacks from two drafts ago. And Mike Vrabel, who was fired by the Titans a few months before Maye was drafted, is one of the Coach of the Year favorites. The Patriots have some flaws, and Milton Williams hitting injured reserve is a major bummer, but the schedule remains kind, with only shorter road trips remaining and the bye still two weeks away. We’ll see if the defense can keep performing at a strong level, but this team has wind at its back heading into the stretch run. [nc]
8th – Diante Lee (The Ringer): Drake Maye is power washing Josh McDaniels’ reputation. Remember when it was widely accepted that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels knew how to make his offense work only with a star quarterback? Well, he has one again in Drake Maye, and his play calling seems to be as sharp as ever. Every team in the NFL should know better at this point, but I expect McDaniels to draw head coaching interest again because that’s always how it goes when a coach is working with a potential MVP. Just remember–it looks this good because of the guy wearing the helmet, not the one wearing the headset. [nc]
AVG RANK: 4.3 [+1.1]
