If folks weren’t taking these New England Patriots seriously before, they certainly have to be now.
It’s time to cancel all the easy strength of schedule chatter. Mike Vrabel’s squad didn’t only win its seventh game in a row on Sunday — it went on the road and slayed a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that entered with a 6-2 record, was coming off a bye week, and had only lost to NFC powerhouses Philadelphia and Detroit this season.
The Patriots improved to 8-2, and it’s hard to see their current surge ending anytime soon. They host the 2-7 Jets this week on Thursday Night Football, and won’t face a team with a winning record until their Week 15 home game against the Buffalo Bills.
Most have viewed that rematch with Buffalo as the game that could end up deciding this year’s AFC East champion.
But after easily the most shocking no-show of Week 10, the Bills could have a hard time keeping pace with the AFC’s new (but all-too-familiar) top dog going forward.
The AFC East clearly runs through Foxboro after Patriots statement, Bills flop
Patriots fans had even more reason to enjoy Sunday’s huge, 28-23 win over the Bucs at Raymond James Stadium.
About 250 miles southeast, the Bills were getting shellacked by the two-win Miami Dolphins as 8.5-point road favorites.
Fresh off a marquee win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo completely fell asleep against a division opponent it had owned (winning 11 of 13 meetings since the 2020 season). The Bills didn’t score a point until the fourth quarter, turned the ball over three times, and left Hard Rock Stadium with a stunningly one-sided, 30-13 defeat.
The Bills dropped to 6-3. They’re now two games back in the win column, and already lost the first head-to-head meeting with the Patriots back in Week 5.
It’s not getting easier anytime soon, either, as Buffalo has Tampa Bay this week, followed by a tough Thursday night road game at Houston.
Patriots reporter Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal has been wary of the Patriots’ roster depth this season, but their standing relative to the Bills this year is no longer in question.
“The Patriots run the AFC East right now,” Bedard told John Zannis of CLNS Media after Sunday’s results. “Will that change, with depth issues? Possibly. But today? Yeah.”
“Today, Yeah the Patriots run the AFC East.” @GregABedard pic.twitter.com/PyVofneK6Q
— Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) November 9, 2025
That counts as high praise, as Bedard isn't afraid to tell it like it is. He's also not wrong. Per ESPN, New England is now the AFC East favorite for the first time since Week 16 of the 2021 season; the Bills have won the division five years running.
There’s a lot of football left to play, and that Patriots-Bills showdown in Foxboro on Dec. 14 could still be the ultimate deciding factor.
It’s also very possible that the hats and t-shirts go to New England this year, and Week 10 ends up being the true turning point.