Preseason predictions for the Patriots' 2025 season have long proven wrong, as New England goes into their Week 17 matchup against the Jets with a 12-3 record, on the brink of winning the AFC East, and competing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Making it all even more impressive is the fact that they head into their final road game hoping to complete a clean sweep, to go 8-0 against their opponents in other stadiums, something that hasn't been done in Foxboro since the 2016 season.
Before that, it was the undefeated 2007 season, when they beat everyone on the road, and there's something about those two years that could put pressure on this year's Patriots to deliver the absolute dream scenario at the end of the year.
The @Patriots have started the season 7-0 on the road and are the only undefeated team on the road this season.
— Patriots Communications (@PatriotsComms) December 22, 2025
This is the third time in team history they have started at least 7-0 on the road, joining the 2016 and 2007 teams who went a perfect 8-0 on the road.#NEPats pic.twitter.com/4EGdModaJi
It might be presumptuous, but the Patriots can accomplish something in this year's postseason that we haven't seen in nearly 10 years
Reflecting upon the 2007 and 2016 seasons is certainly fun to do, if you ignore the Super Bowl outcome of the earlier season, that is.
But that's partly what makes seeing their road record this year compared to those so striking: both times they ended up in the Super Bowl, one of which became the best and most improbable comeback in Super Bowl history.
Although it might be premature and considered an absolute dream, there is a chance the Patriots could make it to this year's Super Bowl, just as they previously did when they went undefeated on the road, and add another impressive year to the books, whether they win the championship or not.
The AFC is wide open going into the final two weeks, with the Chiefs already eliminated, and the Broncos becoming the new No. 1 seed in their place.
The Patriots can still steal that spot from them and get a first-round bye, inching them even closer to the AFC Championship and accomplishing the unthinkable by getting that far, or even to Super Bowl LIX.
Given the number of injuries they're currently dealing with, like placing WR Mack Hollins on injured reserve on Saturday, it will be even tougher to get through the postseason. However, this Patriots team has proven they can handle the pressure, despite how young and mostly inexperienced they are, so there's no reason to rule them out of achieving ultimate success in 2025.