Insider's bold prediction creates an even bigger goal for the Patriots

Under new Head Coach Mike Vrabel and MVP-level quarterback Drake Maye, the New England Patriots have roared to a 16-3 record, including two playoff wins. National pundits have downplayed their achievements for specious reasons like a "soft schedule," and those foolish comments continue.

One Patriots analyst, however, saw a clear path to the AFC Championship game, and he was spot on. That was CLNS's Greg Bedard.

Now it's incumbent upon the Patriots to continue to prove Bedard and others who were positive about the Patriots' 2025 season right. What that will take is beating the Broncos in Denver in the AFC title game and then besting the NFC Champion to win the Lombardi Trophy. Then, however, expect the naysayers and national anti-Patriots people to still try to belittle even that achievement.

Regardless of all that silliness, the Patriots did what a possible champion does all season long: they beat the team the NFL said they had to play that week. The Patriots didn't determine their schedule; the league did. And in the playoffs, now even playoff teams, for whatever reasons these so-called analysts can drum up, aren't worthy enough.

Mikie Vrabel and his team are ignoring the naysayers and going about their business

Whatever the path to the AFC Championship game was or who the Patriots play should they advance to the Super Bowl, and even win it, NFL people who resent and were jealous of the team's two decades of unprecedented success under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will be bellyaching.

Meanwhile, as Bedard predicted earlier, they have won their way right into the AFC Championship game, and who knows what will follow.

Bedard mentioned health, and no doubt, maintaining your key players can shift the balance in any playoff game. It remains to be seen whether the unfortunate loss of Broncos' starting quarterback, Bo Nix, a top NFL prospect, will affect the game's outcome. For the Broncos, it was the worst player to lose at the worst time.

The Patriots have had major injuries, just like any other team

Losing your starting quarterback in the NFL is as bad as it gets, especially in the playoffs. Yet, it doesn't necessarily mean your team is out of the running, especially when you have a top defense like the Broncos do and are playing at the notoriously tough Empower Field at Mile High.

The Patriots have had to suffer through injuries to key players, as well. And while no one is as valuable as the quarterback, the Patriots lost a solid running back for most of the season, Antonio Gibson. They were also without their top defensive lineman, Milton Williams, for five games, Khyiris Tonga, a solid performer for a few games, and their top tackler, Robert Spillane, for four games.

Additionally, both left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson missed multiple games.

While none of these losses equals the loss of a starting quarterback, every injury to a starter is painful, and unfortunately, injuries are a fact of life in the NFL. Conversely, every NFL team's schedule is what the NFL says it is. You can't pick and choose. And after Week 9, you can't trade for a player to replace a loss. Those are the facts.

As they say in Foxborough, it is what it is. Greg Bedard saw a nice path to the AFC Championship game for the Patriots, and he was right. Now all the Patriots have to do is win two more games, and they'll add one more Lombardi Trophy to their current six.

All the naysayers can decry the Patriots' schedule all they want, but a win in the Super Bowl means the Patriots will be NFL Champions again, and that's all that matters. If not, the New England Patriots won their way into the AFC Championship Game.

That of itself is a monumental achievement, no matter what else eventuates or what anyone else says about it.