The New England Patriots are a really fun team to watch when you don't have someone in your ear talking about how bad their schedule sucks.
The Patriots have the most wins in the NFL. They've won 10 games in a row, their quarterback, Drake Maye, has made the leap from rookie with flashes of brilliance to the star of America's Next Top Quarterback, as he and Matthew Stafford are riding side-by-side in the MVP race like Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Labonte on the final lap of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2000.
We could all see pretty early on that Maye had something. An it-factor, killer instinct - whatever you want to call it, Maye has it. It was just a matter of finding the right coach and offense to pair him with to help him evolve from Charmander to Charizard (I had to Google a Pokemon evolve chart for that. I've never watched Pokemon, but I figured it would pop those who have). Luckily for Maye, they found the right head coach and offensive coordinator in Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels, and the results were instant.
As it stands, Maye leads the NFL in passing yards, passer rating, and EPA+CPOE composite. He is second in EPA per play and adjusted EPA per play, the Patriots' offense is sixth in the NFL in points per game, and they have become one of the best, if not the best team in the league.
This is where every naysayer comes in like the annoying kid from The Polar Express to say, "Well, actually, their strength of schedule is the worst in the league and they've feasted on beating bad teams."
And while New England has faced several lesser teams, it doesn't make what they're doing any less impressive, especially when you consider how they are doing it.
The Patriots Are Great, Even If Their Schedule Isn't
For starters, no one picks who they play. Yes, New England has had the benefit of facing the borderline UFL Tennessee Titans, the Dillon Gabriel Cleveland Browns, and a New York Giants team who already fired its head coach, and whose quarterback does his best Jeff Hardy impression every time he takes off running. They aren't just beating these bad teams, though, they are destroying them.
The Patriots defeated the Browns, Titans, and Giants by a combined score of 96-41. That comes to an average margin of victory of 18.3 points. Had New England lost to any of those three teams, the doubters would be shouting, "How do you lose to Dillon Gabriel and expect to be taken seriously?!" Had they only won by a slim margin, the rationalization of doubt would then become, "Well sure they won, but barely." So if that's the case, which it certainly is, you can't hold strength of schedule against New England when they are baptizing their inferior opponents.
Additionally, it's not as if the Patriots haven't beaten anyone. They beat the Carolina Panthers 42-13 to kickoff the win streak, and Carolina just defeated the Los Angeles Rams to get to 7-6 on the season. Plus, they defeated both the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, making them 2-0 against teams currently holding a playoff spot.
Compare that with the Seattle Seahawks, a team everyone is drooling over, that is 1-3 against playoff teams. Of the current AFC playoff teams, only the Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and Buffalo Bills have winning records against other playoff teams, per Jeff Howe. In the NFC playoff picture, only the Rams and Philadelphia Eagles have records above.500 against other teams that currently hold playoff spots.
So while the Patriots have faced an easy schedule, they've taken care of business against those opponents in blowout fashion, and have beaten both of their most formidable opponents on the road. These Patriots aren't sheep in wolves clothing - they are a formidable force with an MVP caliber quarterback that has as good a shot as any team to make a deep run in January.