50yrpatsfan

They won the SB vs the Rams in the 2018 season, went 12-4 and lost a 1st round playoff game to Tenn in 2019, went 8-9 in the Covid year with Cam Newton, went 10-7 and lost a 1st round playoff game to the Bills in 2021, went 8-9 in 2022, 4-13 in 2023, and 4-13 in 2024 Tossing the covid year aside, they've been mucking around at the bottom for 3 seasons (Belichick's final 2 + the Jerod Mayo year).

If the Bills win the rematch with NE and they end up with the same record (both possible), then the loss to Miami costs the Bills the division, assuming NE beats the Jets twice and Miami at home in December (which is likely).

That's how we felt about Allen when he started. Mainly the FA class and draft class they had - 16 new starters. Plus new competent coaches, Maye ascending, and an easy schedule.

Watch him and you'll realize he's already as good as Burrow or Herbet, and he's 23 and still on the rise, and he's surrounded by a very good OC & HC as well as improved OL and weapons. NE's schedule has been crazy favorable, but Maye's talent is undeniable and he's in a near perfect situation for success.

The Chiefs don't look like a SB team this year, and could easily lose their next 2 games (at Denver, vs Indy) which would put them at 5-6 with the Chargers and Denver also left. They could miss the playoffs. But if they squeak in at 10-7 and NE continues to play well and is say 14-3, I'm taking NE.

It's not just Vrabel, McDaniels, and Maye's rise. It's the 14 new starters (rookies and FA's) at LT, LG, C, RT, RB, WR1, WR3, NT, DE, 3 LB's, FS, CB2 - plus CB1 & stud DE returning after missing last season. 16 out of 22. Plus new TE2, FB. WR5, K. There's only 6 guys who played a big role from last year's team who still play a big role. New coaching staff, 16 new starters, a couple of new execs in the front office to assist Wolf. It's like the team plane crashed and they started over.

This thread has aged well. NE is effin good.

omg this is the worst take in the entire thread. Only a matter of time before you walk it back. The Patriots as a team are still a bit of a question mark. Maye isn't, already a top 4-8 talent and rising. In no way does he resemble Lawrence. His closest comps are Herbert and Allen.

The odds are that NE is gonna win the division. They're solid, not falling apart, and the Bills have a much more difficult schedule. The rematch in Foxboro should be very interesting. Everyone knew that KC, Buffalo, and probably LA would be in the AFC hunt, but nobody saw Denver, Indy, or NE. It's a 6 team race. Probably Indy gets the 1-seed, they also have a favorable schedule.

Maye is for real, can make every throw, runs very well, good awareness, mature kid. He's already as good as Herbert or Burrow, all 3 are clones. But you can't really judge much from beating up on Tennessee, they are terrible. The next 3 games are Cleveland, Atlanta, Tampa - all good defenses. NE's OL is spotty, the RB's are below average, WR's are average. If Maye plows through those 3 in a similar manner then you'd have to say NE is a threat in the AFC.

Maye will never be Allen, he's not as physical or as fast a runner, and that's what separates Allen. Maye's play style and talent level are that of Justin Herbert, those 2 guys are clones. Last night he rose to the occasion and made many big plays in the 2nd half. I think he was 13 of 14 for 188 yards with no turnovers or bad plays in the 2nd half, as the game went back and forth. Numerous 20 yard plays. It was a clean, excellent performance.

We tried to tell you guys that the Patriots were playing pretty solid football and it wasn't gonna be a runaway, that even we couldn't believe how much better they looked compared to the past two years' 4-13 teams. And that was before seeing Diggs go off last night for the first time as a Pat, and the rookie kicker hitting a 52 yard kick with 20 yards to spare in the clutch. Rugged defense, new OL, Maye arriving, excellent coaching, very favorable schedule. They are indeed back.

"Inferior" is in the eye of the beholder, and most observers of last night's game would say that these two teams are more or less equal. NE actually seemed to have the slight edge in all 3 phases.

NE's putting up more than 17.

Yeah, the reason they lost that game was they coughed it up 5x, including twice inside the Steelers 2 yard line and another as they were moving toward the game winning score. But the point was that under McDaniels they're moving the ball much better than we've seen the past couple of years. How that looks in Buffalo is of keen interest to Pats fans. Nobody's really expecting a win, but a competitive 31-27 type of game is very possible. We feel like we have our QB, the OL is now fairly solid, and all the coaches are good. No QB runs like Allen. Maye has speed but he's looking to avoid contact. Maye's arm is good but a rung below Allen.