Well before the start of the 2025 NFL season, the Patriots were not projected to be a competitive team and were expected to miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Most analysts had them winning fewer than 10 games, holding down second place in the division, but not making the kind of progress fans would hope for in Year 1 under Mike Vrabel.
Once the season began, however, and the team went on a winning streak that put them near the top of the league, the narrative that they had the easiest schedule became a national topic, so much so that it followed them all the way to the Super Bowl.
It remains the explanation for most outside New England for why the Patriots won 14 games and represented the AFC in the championship, and continues to plague them ahead of a very telling 2026 season.
It's certainly not a talking point any team wants linked to them, and it's not something that has been a topic of conversation for most recently successful teams. It's only the ones the media deems unlikable that get that label, which is why the Patriots were the latest victims of it.
Ahead of the upcoming season, it appears the Bengals will be dealing with it this time around, and while that will be frustrating, the Patriots have the fortune of watching one of their rivals be subjected to the debate instead.
The Bengals are about to learn the hard reality that the Patriots dealt with in 2025
As they prepare to deal with a very different type of pressure this fall, the Bengals are already hearing what the main discussion will be about their team, and it's going to center on their easy strength of schedule.
Chris Roling of Bengals Wire spoke about it recently after seeing Domonique Foxworth mention it on ESPN's Get Up last week, and apparently the former NFL player isn't the first analyst who has already set the stage for what will be the lingering headline following Cincy in 2026.
Surely, this will haunt them regardless of whether they have an impressive bounce-back year or if they fail. And, in a petty way, Patriots fans won't be mad about seeing another team deal with the kind of headlines that come with a schedule like this after the year they've had, having heard it every week.
Unfortunately, despite entering a new season, it's still a conversation about the team because many feel validated after seeing their failures in the Super Bowl.
That didn't really prove anything other than they are clearly a young team with plenty of improvements left to make, but it doesn't take away from what they accomplished and the bright future they clearly have.
The Bengals aren't in the same boat, however, as QB Joe Burrow is entering Year 7, and most of his teammates are not up-and-comers. They have a lot of narratives about their team to shut down, and they haven't been very good at proving them wrong, so the pressure is on them this year to finally do just that.
An easier schedule can help make that happen, but the conversations among analysts that come with that can become a distraction, and we'll have to see if the Bengals can handle it all during a season that could lead to significant changes next year.
Luckily, the Patriots can watch from the outside this time.
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