NFL analyst just took a bold Patriots stance and may never hear the end of it

Going into their divisional-round game against the Texans, the Patriots were not favored by analysts or most fans outside of New England, mainly because of Houston's defense. As one of the most dominant groups in the entire NFL, there was an overwhelming belief that Drake Maye and his inexperienced offense wouldn't manage to do much of anything lined up against them.

So, it would be fair to say that with their win, which wasn't the quarterback's best game by any measure, shocked a majority of people, and some analysts aren't handling being wrong too well, most notably of whom is ESPN's Dan Orlovsky.

Patriots fans have come to know the former quarterback over the years, especially this season, for his wacky takes and hypocritical reasoning for not voting for Maye as the league MVP in favor of his buddy, Matthew Stafford.

That makes it even less surprising that he would immediately discredit what the Patriots accomplished on Sunday, as they are now en route to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 2018, and he chose to disrespect the team in its entirety while discussing the game on Monday morning.

Dan Orlovsky can't help but discredit the Patriots again and again

Instead of giving credit where credit is due, which primarily should be to the Patriots' defense, Orlovsky decided to completely diminish what they did and suggested that 31 other quarterbacks could've stepped up in CJ Stroud's place and beaten the Patriots on Sunday.

Not only is that false, given their 2025 record and the slew of talented quarterbacks they beat, but it is also a slap in the face to what New England's defense did against a talented Texans team for no reason at all other than to continue a brigade against the 2025 team.

Although the Patriots are used to dealing with unreasonable expectations and unjustified hatred from those outside New England, you'd think five years of losing, Tom Brady leaving the team, Bill Belichick being fired, and a 2025 roster that is so likeable it's nearly impossible to find a negative thing to say, would be enough to give them some respect for what they've accomplished.

They went into this season with low expectations, as most believed they wouldn't win more than eight games. The playoffs were out of the question, and it was going to be another year in the shadow of the Bills, who would win the division for the sixth straight year.

Instead, the Patriots flipped the script and defied all the odds by winning the AFC East and claiming the No. 2 seed in the AFC, and are now on their way to face the Broncos in the AFCCG.

The work they have done this year should be applauded and not disregarded, especially now that they're playing playoff teams who are supposed to be the best teams in the league, so what is there to diminish at this point?

No matter what, at the end of the day, all of this negativity just gives the Patriots more bulletin board material and motivation to keep proving them all wrong, and they'll have more than their fair share of things to work with going into this week's game.