After years of utter dominance, the New England Patriots finally gave the AFC East a bit of a break. The post-Tom Brady days weren't kind in Foxborough, and the Buffalo Bills made the most of Josh Allen's ascent to win the divisional pennant five years in a row.
Notably, that streak ended last season. The Patriots reclaimed the top spot in the division in the first year of the Mike Vrabel era, keeping the foot on the gas and reaching the Super Bowl in Drake Maye's first full season as a starter.
The Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after losing to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round, and other than trading for DJ Moore, they haven't done much to improve the team. Also, they always seem to shoot themselves in the foot in big games.
That's one of many reasons why Nick Wright's latest take on the AFC East race doesn't make much sense.
The New England Patriots are still the team to beat in the AFC East
Speaking on First Things First, Wright dusted off the tired and lazy 'easy schedule' narrative again. He claimed that the Bills were more trustworthy to win the division in 2026 because they faced tougher opposition than the Patriots:
“They finished one game apart in the standings. Through 14 of the 17 games, they had the same schedule. The Bills had the Eagles, Texans and Chiefs. The Patriots had the Giants, Titans and Raiders,” said Wright.
That's fair to a degree, but he conveniently ignored that the Patriots, unlike the Bills, actually beat the Broncos. More importantly, he overlooked the fact that the Bills didn't do anything with their AFC East supremacy in the five years they ran unopposed.
This is a team with a long history of postseason shortcomings; they're cursed. Josh Allen is undeniably a superstar, but he's been on the wrong end of some heartbreaking and unfortunate breaks in the playoffs.
The Patriots only needed one full season with their new quarterback to get back to the mountaintop, all while the Bills have accomplished nothing despite having stacked teams and playing in an easy division.
So, why would anything be different now?
Some teams have it, some don't. It's hard to explain, but it's just the way it is. The Patriots are used to playing in big games, regardless of who's on the roster or on the sidelines. The Bills, on the other hand, carry the weight of endless failure, and that's extremely hard to shake off. Some franchises never do.
Fresh off a Super Bowl loss, the Patriots replaced an aging Stefon Diggs with Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown. They added Kevin Byard, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Dre'Mont Jones, with rookies Caleb Lomu and Gabe Jacas also looking like potential stars. What did the Bills do?
The Patriots have always been the team everyone loves to hate, and that will lead to some biased takes. Still, until the Bills prove that they can actually get the job done when it matters the most, there's no objective reason to believe they're more trustworthy than the Patriots.
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