For the first time in a long time, the New England Patriots are back atop the AFC East, and it’s safe to say the rest of the NFL has taken notice.
Mike Vrabel’s team is now 4-2 after holding on to beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 6, and the Pats moved up the standings even more a day later when the Buffalo Bills lost to the Atlanta Falcons on “Monday Night Football.” Both teams are 4-2 through six weeks with the Patriots holding the momentary tiebreaker after defeating Buffalo a week earlier.
And as NFL power rankings come off the presses across the NFL media landscape, Drake Maye and company are flying up the charts. New England has even cracked the top 10 in at least one ranking, with CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco moving up the Patriots to No. 9.
NFL Power Rankings Falling in Love With Patriots
Here’s a quick rundown of how some of the top outlets see the Patriots through the first third of the season.
ESPN.com: No. 14 (up from No. 17)
Asked for a lesson learned through the first chunk of the season, ESPN Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss pointed to the massive second-year leap for Maye.
“He became the fourth player in NFL history under 24 years old to record at least 200 passing yards and a passing rating of 100 or higher in five straight games, joining Patrick Mahomes (seven straight in 2018 and five in 2018-19), Dan Marino (six in 1984) and Dak Prescott (five in 2016),” Reiss noted.
The Athletic: No. 14 (up from No. 17)
The Athletic this week decided to focus in on a fantasy performance for each team amid its rankings, and pointed to, you guessed it, Maye. The QB is 13th in the entire league in fantasy points per game.
Pro Football Talk: No. 10 (up from No. 14)
Simple stuff from Mike Florio: “It took a while, but they’re back in control of the AFC East.”
CBS Sports: No. 9 (up from No. 13)
Prisco unsurprisingly went simple, too: “Mike Vrabel has done a nice job with this team, and Drake Maye is growing into a franchise quarterback. They are 4-2 and a real threat to the Bills.”
Spot the lie.
The Ringer: No. 16 (up from No. 17)
While The Ringer’s Diante Lee is technically the coldest on the Patriots of the assembled rankers, he offered some solid, insightful analysis on Maye, who is becoming a top-10 quarterback right in front of our eyes.
“New England’s schedule has been so soft that it’s hard to make too much of its 4-2 record. At the same time, from what I’ve seen through six weeks, I’m convinced that quarterback Drake Maye is the real deal,” he wrote. ” … Maye’s processing is improving by the week, and we’re seeing him take more control of the offense as the year goes on. He’s taking quick throws against defenses that try to blitz him and pushing the ball downfield when he has time.”
Can Patriots Sustain Early-Season Momentum?
In short, the answer is a resounding yes. No team in the NFL has an easier schedule on paper the rest of the season than New England. The cumulative winning percentage of the teams remaining on the Patriots schedule is currently a paltry .308, per Tankathon, and there’s only one other team that’s even under .400.
The Patriots are favored in five of their next seven games leading into a Week 14 bye. And if Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow can’t return in time for a Week 13 clash, New England probably goes off as a road favorite in Cincinnati, running the number to six of seven.
New England is already -265 to make the playoffs, per FanDuel Sportsbook, with +190 odds to outlast Buffalo and win the AFC East.
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