When the New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel to help rebuild the franchise, many assumed it would be a year or two process to help the franchise return to its winning ways.
The team was coming off two consecutive 4-13 seasons and had let go of former head coach Jerod Mayo, leaving the short-term potential of the team in doubt. After nine weeks into the 2025 season, the Patriots are no longer rebuilding but are now competing for the Super Bowl.
The Patriots have a 7-2 record before Week 10, which is one of the best in the NFL. According to ESPN, New England had one of the easiest schedules of strength before the start of the season, ranking 30th weakest in the league.
Even with a weaker schedule, the Patriots had an upset win in Week 5 over a divisional rival. The Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 23-2,0, earlier in the season, showing that they can compete with a Super Bowl contender.
One NFL analyst makes a bold prediction regarding the AFC playoff picture entering the second half of the season.
New England Patriots Predicted To Top AFC
GettyNew England Patriots QB Drake Maye
The Patriots have the second-longest winning streak in the NFL after starting the season 1-2.
CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan believes the team can carry the momentum and weak schedule to help propel the team to become the number one seed in the AFC.
“At the moment, the [Indianapolis] Colts own the inside track to the AFC’s top seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. But when the season actually comes to a close, it’ll be Drake Maye and the Patriots shockingly standing above the rest,” Sullivan wrote. “Entering the second half of 2025, the Patriots are the No. 2 seed in the conference and are riding a six-game winning streak. Despite that surge, they aren’t even favored to win their own division… The Bills are also the betting favorite over both Indy and New England to land the No. 1 seed.”
“Even if the Bills erase that tiebreaker by going into Foxborough and beating the Patriots in Week 15, there’s little margin for error the rest of the way. New England has the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL, giving it a clear path to keep stacking wins and possibly render the tiebreaker irrelevant. ”
Before the start of Week 10, six of the final eight opponents of the Patriots have a losing record. The Bills are the first team with a record over 0.500 and the Pats’ Week 10 opponent in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are the other.
If the Patriots do end up finishing as the number one seed in the AFC, it will be the first time since the 2017 season, back when the franchise had Tom Brady behind the center and Bill Belichick as the head coach.
Things for the franchise have looked bad since both had left, but are now turning a new leaf with Vrabel as head coach.
Showing They Belong With The Best Of The Best
GettyNew England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel
As mentioned, the Patriots will take on the Buccaneers in Week 10 against one of their hardest opponents of the season.
If New England were to pull off the win, it would send a message to the rest of the NFL that the Patriots are not where they are due to a weak schedule.
Head coach Mike Vrabel has said that the Bucs will “test the team” before the 10 a.m. PST/ 1 p.m. EST showdown.
If the Patriots pull off the win against Tampa, it will keep their lead over the Bills in the AFC East standings when they take on the Miami Dolphins.
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