There hadn't been an "ugly win" to this point in the season for the New England Patriots, but that's probably the best way to describe their one-point victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

A week after the Patriots trounced the top-flight defense of the Cleveland Browns, they now welcome the final remaining top 10 defense on their schedule tomorrow in the form of the Atlanta Falcons.

Please do not take this kid and what he's doing this year for granted. Drake Maye is legitimately having one of the best, if not the best, seasons of any QB in the league through eight weeks.

Despite sitting at a 5-2 record with a perfect road record, New England is once again struggling to find that level of success at Gillette Stadium —and, even more than that, touts the NFL's worst home game record since 2023, at 4-15. Their opponent this weekend, the Cleveland Browns, who've yet to win on the road this year and are 4-17 on the road since 2023...

More or less, yesterday's Patriots win over the Tennessee Titans went just about according to plan. They settled in after a trio of scoring drives by Cam Ward and co., and cruised on with a 31 point afternoon and now find themselves on their first four game win streak in nearly four years, and as the two seed in the AFC behind Indianapolis. Not only did Drake Maye dazzle once again, but the running game, yes, the running game, was gigantic in this win, with Rhamondre Stevenso

There could not have been a funnier weekend for the Patriots and Mike Vrabel to head down to Nashville and take on the Titans.

Even with some beyond atrocious officiating, however, this was nowhere near a "great" team performance, in that the offense stalled for a chunk of the second half, the aforementioned run offense had maybe its worst game of the season, and the Patriots' defense, while not bad on the whole, did give up some bad plays in this one.

Off the most significant win this team has achived this decade, the New England Patriots find themselves set to embark on what, at a visual glance, appears to be a relatively easy stretch of games. Between this weekend and their Week 14 Bye, the combined record of their opponents is 13-27, featuring five times currently dead last in their divisions, and the only division leader they're scheduled to play over this period is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.

Ending with no TDs is a little bit of a shame since Maye was legitimately flawless otherwise, but he made no shortage of winning plays, and if you rate this as his definitive career outing, I don't blame you in the slightest. He was absolutely unfazed in one of the toughest road environments in the league, and the Bills had no answers for him.

A very weird feeling knowing this is the final ever primetime game slated for Ralph Wilson Stadium, barring any late-season schedule adjustments. Very fun game to go out on if so, and one that I think goes down to the end.

One play will never win or lose you a game in pro sports, but one can always be the start of something big, and in football, that can especially apply on the special teams front.

Unfortunately for Carolina, they've been hit with the injury bug badly in these first few weeks of the year. Starting right guard and center Robert Hunt and Austin Cobert are out for the year and two months, respectively. Tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders is currently week-to-week with an ankle issue, and both starting edge rushers, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones, are also confirmed out.

Even on a day where the Patriots' defense was mostly solid and consistently was able to bail out a Patriots offense that committed five turnovers (four fumbles, one pick), the offense was the "bad football to take advantage of" talked about all offseason in its final form for at least one afternoon.

Fresh off a huge win down in Miami for the first time since 2019, the Patriots are throwing it back for a weekend to honor Julien Edelman and (regrettably) Bill Parcells by inducting them into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and then hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers 24 hours later. Their AFC North foe is coming off a brutal fourth-quarter collapse against the Seattle Seahawks, and worse than that, is going to be down multiple starters on the defensive side of the ball tomorrow.

While the Patriots' season didn't exactly get off on the right foot last Sunday vs. the Raiders, they're a decent chunk of teams with...

The sacred art of professional sports uniforms/uniform design is something near and dear to my heart, so I was a bit nervous when the NFL announced their new "Rivalries" sets alongside Nike back at the NFL Draft in Green Bay.

The phrase, "taking advantage of bad football," was something everyone gravitated towards in Vrabel's opening presser, and simply looking at the Patriots' schedule, those opportunities should be there.

A mix of the Tavai injury situation and the "Mapu position switch" should be the catalyst that gets second-year safety Dell Pettus on this roster. I know some people are intrigued by new safety, Marcus Epps, but Pettus was legitimately good for this team a year ago as a defender and special-teams contributor.

In a long, prestigious line of "shifty and scrappy" white wide receivers who are < 6'0" in Patriots history, Eastern Washington's Efton Chism III appears to be in line to take up that mantle for this team in 2025.

The one stretch that would worry me somewhat would be from late October through November, where the Panthers draw the Bills, Packers, Saints, Falcons, 49ers, and Rams in succession, but that stretch last year where they gave the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles all they could handle in consecutive weeks, then that season finale in Atlanta, gives me hope they can answer the bell against some tougher competition.