The Patriots go into Week 9 against the Falcons in the midst of a five-game win streak and hope to continue that heading into one of their toughest matchup of their season so far, when they head to Tampa Bay to face the Bucs next week.
As it stands, they are favored over the struggling NFC team, especially given their less-than-ideal quarterback situation. At this point, it looks like Michael Penix Jr. will be back under center instead of Kirk Cousins, which might be a benefit to the Patriots, despite the Falcons' desire to use this upcoming matchup as a get-right game.
Head coach Raheem Morris made their intentions clear after suffering a brutal and embarrassing loss to the Dolphins last Sunday. The Patriots' divisional rival handed them one of the worst losses of their season, and now they want to regain steam against a thriving New England unit.
Falcons HC Raheem Morris on their upcoming matchup with the #Patriots:
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) October 29, 2025
“You need ‘em when you down. Go out there and try to get a big time win… [They’re] doing a lot of really good things… A lot of great opportunities for our guys to have a bounce back.”
(🎥 @AtlantaFalcons) pic.twitter.com/fmXy4dOEH3
But the Patriots cannot allow that to happen.
The Patriots need to put a stop to the Falcons hope to bounce back in Week 9
Over the past month, the Patriots have risen in the league's power rankings for their continued impressive play, led mainly by Drake Maye. They are finally getting the recognition that many didn't think would become a weekly part of the season until at least next year, making their ever-evolving performances that much more impressive this year.
The hope is that they can continue that against a very beatable 3-4 Falcons team and ensure they have to attempt to regain relevance next week. That won't be easy either, because they're hosting the Indianapolis Colts, and there's a good chance they won't win that one either.
Based on what we've seen from the Patriots, there's no reason they should lose this game. Although anything can happen on any given Sunday in the NFL, they have beaten better teams than the Falcons, so this should be an easy victory.
However, they'll need to avoid falling behind early, like they have almost every week due to their slow-starting defense, and they cannot allow costly penalties to make the task at hand more difficult than it needs to be.
They should head into their matchup with the Bucs still atop the AFC East with a 7-2 record and remain in the playoff picture, with Maye still highly regarded in the MVP conversation.
That would be quite the way to start November, and completely shut down any of the negative talk that has continued to be part of the Patriots discussion throughout the season so far.