The New England Patriots were expected to blow the doors off the hapless New York Giants in their Monday Night Football matchup, and they met those expectations by putting up 30 first-half points in a 33-15 beatdown that was worse than the scoreline would indicate.
Head coach Mike Vrabel was brought in as part of an attempt to bring the team back to its winning ways, even bringing Josh McDaniels back as offensive coordinator. So far, this team is looking like a team that would not look out of place alongside some of the best Tom Brady/Bill Belichick teams.
The 2025 Patriots shook off a slow start and are now 11-2 on the season heading into the bye week, winning conseuctive games at a rate that hasn't been seen since No. 12 was still roaming the field.
New England has now won 10 games in a row for the first time since the second half of the Brady era was going strong in 2015. Those Patriots made it to the AFC Championship before losing to the Denver Broncos. Will history repeat itself in Year 2 for Drake Maye?
Patriots have won 10 straight games for first time since Tom Brady era
While Maye put up his usual excellent stats, this felt like a Brady era win in more ways than one. The quarterback was dicing up the defense, but with how well the defense and special teams performed in tandem with their opponent self-destructing, New England seemed likely to coast to this win regardless.
Between Marcus Jones running a punt back for a touchdown, the Giants getting cartoonishly comical by botching a field goal attempt, and Jaxson Dart being largely unable to attack the defense through the air, Vrabel has built the Patriots into a team that can win irrespective of their elite quarterback play.
With Bo Nix's Broncos and their loaded defense winning nine straight games, it seems like whichever of these sophomore quarterbacks blinks first is going to lose possession of the No. 1 seed in the AFC. New England may have a very easy schedule, but they've won all the games they're supposed to win.
The Patriots will need to win a few times in the postseason to announce that they are well and truly back to the rest of the NFL world, but games like this show that New England is once again good enough to dispel the also-rans of the world without breaking a sweat.