TAMPA, Fla. – It’s not the schedule.
The Patriots showed a lot in Sunday’s nail-biting, toe-tapping, heart-stopping, sweat-beading 28-23 win over the Buccaneers. But most of all, they proved that their 8-2 record and seven-game winning streak is not just a product of their ease of schedule.
Patriots players said after Sunday’s win that they don’t care if they’re being slept on, but their performance did the talking for them on Sunday. And their play on the field – beating a division leader – told any doubters to shut up about their easy schedule.
Who knows how long the Patriots’ streak will last – they have a string of three easy games coming up against the Jets, Bengals and Giants before the bye and the league’s easiest remaining schedule – but they’ve now bookended their consecutive victories with signature wins over the Bills and Buccaneers.
A win over the now 6-3 Buccaneers on the road, in sweltering elements, makes you wonder how high the ceiling for the 2025 Patriots really is. The playoffs seemed unthinkable when this team was being assembled in March.
But now? This looks like a team that won’t just make the playoffs but could be actual contenders in January. Right now, this is a team that no team in the NFL will want to face after proving they can beat two of the NFL’s best teams in their home stadiums.
The Patriots would have deserved enough credit for just winning against teams they were supposed to beat this season. They finished 4-13 in consecutive years and lost to plenty of the league’s bottom-feeders. Beating a team like the Titans or Browns was still hard for this squad in their previous three seasons. Winning fair and square matchups against division leaders like the Buccaneers was unthinkable – laughable, even.
The Patriots’ ability to play through adversity raises expectations, as well. They were down three starters in Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers and needed their backups to step up. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson replaced Rhamondre Stevenson by producing three explosive runs, including 69- and 55-yard touchdowns, on the way to a 147-yard breakout performance.
Rookie wide receiver Kyle Williams stepped up in place of Kayshon Boutte with his own explosive play, a 72-yard catch and run for a touchdown. And linebacker Jack Gibbens led the team in tackles while starting in place of Christian Elliss.
The performances from Henderson and Williams alone show that the roster has more playmakers than it appeared just one week ago. The Patriots had trouble producing big plays after Boutte left their Week 9 win over the Falcons. In a game that saw Drake Maye struggle multiple times, they still produced five explosive plays as DeMario Douglas and Mack Hollins also made plays downfield.
With the heat and a slew of minor injuries – head coach Mike Vrabel quipped that he was getting tired walking onto the field to check on guys – the Patriots played 18 players on offense and 19 players on defense. Defensive tackle/fullback Khyiris Tonga even played both ways, with 28 snaps on defense and another eight on offense.
“Says a lot about our team,” safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “Says a lot about everybody as a whole. We need everybody. Doesn’t matter if you’re a starter, second string, third string, everybody gonna get a shot.”
The team also overcame a near-disastrous decision by Maye to throw the ball into danger on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ 2-yard line when a field goal – which would have given the Patriots an eight-point lead – could have produced a much cleaner win.
But the Patriots’ defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs when the Buccaneers, needing a touchdown while trailing 21-16 with 1:55 left in the game, went for it on fourth-and-3 from the Patriots’ 23-yard line. The Patriots’ pass-rush was in the midst of dragging Mayfield down when he stood up and tossed the ball to running back Rachaad White. Hawkins thought Mayfield was down but still had the wherewithal to bring White down for a game-saving tackle.
Henderson’s 69-yard touchdown run two plays later clinched the game. The Patriots allowed a touchdown to cut their lead to 28-23, but wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ recovered onside kick officially put the game away.
The Patriots also proved they could win despite it not being Maye’s best performance. He finished with a positive EPA (expected points added) but had an erratic performance – for his standards – passing the ball. Maye finished just 16-of-31 for 270 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He had a negative completion percentage over expected and was just 1-of-5 on deep balls.
“I think we just got a good group of guys that play together,” rookie left tackle Will Campbell said. “Nobody wants to let anybody down. Offense has the defense’s back. Defense has the offense’s back, and special teams has everybody. We just got a good group of guys, and everybody plays together, and everybody’s trying to work together to get the win. And that really helps. It doesn’t really matter who’s out there.”
It’s fair to say that despite some high-quality players like Maye, cornerback Christian Gonzalez and Diggs, to name a few, the Patriots do not have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.
Even with an easy schedule, the Patriots were expected to finish somewhere around .500 this season. With eight wins under their belt, they’re a win away from beating their preseason win total. They’ve matched their win total from the past two seasons combined in just 10 games. Maye is having an MVP-caliber season, and Vrabel might as well start clearing his shelves for another NFL Coach of the Year award.
So, what’s different about this team? What allows them to keep their winning streak alive through what Vrabel said bordered on a bad decision from Maye, through injuries, through heat, through an opposing quarterback who wouldn’t go down?
“Brotherhood,” right tackle Morgan Moses said. “We’re close. There’s no cliques in here of offense and defense. We talk (expletive) to the defense, just like the defense talks (expletive) to us. And when you are able to do that and not take it with a grain of salt, it allows you to be better. It allows you to be better every day, and that’s what we’ve done. It’s just preaching the identity, the core values that we have on this team. We do everything together. When you go out there into somebody else’s stadium or in our stadium, and you got brotherhood, and you can play together, you’re stronger together than just just on 1-on-1s.”
It still feels too early to talk about the possibility of a Super Bowl. And setting the bar that high could impact the overall enjoyment of this season.
The Patriots are winners again. It’s not their schedule. It’s not even their talent. It’s a close team with a head coach who’s preaching the right values, and it’s allowing the Patriots to stay in every single game. And they haven’t stopped winning for seven weeks now.
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