The first quarter of the NFL season is behind us, and while it's often difficult to forecast the Super Bowl favorite at that point, the contenders are slowly starting to edge away from the bottom-feeders. While the New England Patriots aren't at the top of the AFC's food chain, with their Week 5 opponent, the Buffalo Bills, head and shoulders above the rest, the Patriots are getting a small taste.
A 2-2 record after four games is typically nothing to sniff at, but Mike Vrabel's Patriots may have sent a message to the league and the AFC with last week's 42-13 pasting of the Carolina Panthers. Yes, Carolina is closer to the No. 1 pick in the draft than to being considered an elite team, but if you want to be a contender, you've got to beat up on bad teams, especially in your building.
The Patriots did just that, and as a result, the national pundits are taking notice. Bleacher Report is forecasting that the Patriots will be among the AFC's playoff participants in 2025. And with heavyweights such as Cincinnati and Baltimore dealing with injuries to their quarterbacks, the door is suddenly open for the Patriots to break through.
How can the Patriots make the postseason in 2025?
In the midst of Sunday's blowout, the Patriots have some areas they need to improve, including slow starts. Carolina marched right down the field on its opening drive for a touchdown, mirroring what the Raiders and Steelers did in their visits to Gillette Stadium, both of which resulted in Patriots' losses.
If it hadn't been for a spectacular punt return from Marcus Jones that swung momentum, who knows how that Carolina game would've turned out. But the Patriots took care of business, and if they want to be a playoff team, they need to keep feasting on the league's bottom-feeders.
October offers plenty of chances to do just that. After the Patriots face the Bills, they'll meet the Saints, Titans, and Browns. Those teams have an aggregate record of 1-11. At the worst, the Patriots should be 5-3 when Halloween comes around.
The Patriots are still a year or so away from being at the top of the food chain, but this hard-working roster proved that it can dominate in all three phases of the game against the Panthers. They just need to keep putting it together.
The Bills won't be looking past their division rivals, and the Patriots will likely have to win a track meet-type game to pull off an upset in Orchard Park. However, a competitive game would continue to put the league on notice, and after Josh Allen, Spencer Rattler, Cam Ward, and Dillon Gabriel, the list of quarterbacks doesn't represent a murderer's row.
The time is now for Drake Maye and the Patriots. October will go a long way in determining this team's postseason fate.