It is true that the New England Patriots have played the softest schedule. It’s also true that it probably doesn’t matter.
The Patriots have an 8-2 record and two pretty impressive wins on their résumé. They won at the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 and won at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. If they were judged by the NCAA tournament selection committee, both of those wins would be Quad 1. Sunday’s win should put to rest the skepticism about the Patriots just being bad schedule merchants.
The Patriots’ season started slow, with an inexplicable loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and home and a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. The Raiders loss still makes no sense. As for the Steelers, New England turned the ball over five times and still lost by just seven points. That’s not ideal but it happens.
Since then, the Patriots haven’t lost. Drake Maye has become an MVP candidate. The same skepticism about the Patriots taking advantage of a soft schedule (the schedule is ranked as the easiest by DVOA by a wide margin this season) had been used by Maye doubters, and that should also rest after Sunday, when he had 270 yards and two touchdowns. He has been consistently productive all season. The Patriots comfortably beat a Buccaneers team that is the runaway favorite to win the NFC South. New England is very good on offense and while the defense is still a question, it has been good enough during a seven-game winning streak.
The struggles of the Buffalo Bills have put the Patriots at the front of the line in the AFC East. The schedule doesn’t matter. They’ve beaten everyone they have played for nearly two months. That trend seems unlikely to end anytime soon.
Here are the NFL power rankings after Week 10 of the season:
The Titans’ next best chance to win a game might be Dec. 28 when they host the Saints. Maybe they pull off an upset or beat the Browns in Cleveland, but it seems hard to believe they won’t be picking first in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Since Week 1, the Raiders are 1-7 and their only win was against Tennessee. Losing a miserable game at Denver last week drives home the point that there has been no tangible progress in Pete Carroll’s first season as head coach.
Can Tyler Shough play well enough to convince the Saints that they don’t need to draft a QB next April? New Orleans should be in a position to take a top prospect if they want. But Shough looked good in Sunday’s win at Carolina and should start the rest of the season.
After a loss to the Jets, who had won only one game before Sunday, coach Kevin Stefanski said about rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel that “We’re going to stick with Dillon” and offered no timetable on a possible start for Shedeur Sanders. But that change might not be too far off.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields completed six passes for 54 yards. He has had four games this season in which he had 54 or fewer yards passing. The only good news for Fields is the Jets have won two in a row, even if he didn’t have much to do with Sunday’s win over the Browns.
Brian Daboll had to be fired to keep him from driving Jaxson Dart into the ground. The Giants need to make the right hire to get the most out of Dart, but trusting the organization whose last four hires were Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and Daboll is tough to do.
On the rare occasions the Dolphins look good, they look really good. The win over the Bills wasn’t fluky in any way; Miami simply pounded Buffalo. That buys coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa more time, presumably.
Dan Quinn is taking over defensive play-calling, but it might not matter that much. The Commanders don’t have enough difference-makers on that side of the ball. It has been a disappointing season in many ways, and the demise of the defense is high on the list.
It’s a good thing the Cardinals beat the Cowboys, or they’d be on a seven-game losing streak and a blowout loss to the Seahawks might have spelled the end for Jonathan Gannon. Gannon’s job security will be an issue the rest of the season.
Joe Burrow having his practice window opened is positive news. At what point would it make more sense for the Bengals to shut him down? If they’re still in the playoff race and he’s healthy, no problem. But if they can’t protect him and are out of the race, it’s a bad idea for him to come back.
Dallas’ loss to the Cardinals in Week 9 looks even worse after Arizona was embarrassed by the Seahawks. It’s pretty clear the Cowboys aren’t going anywhere. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams would have to be very good for Dallas fans to be excited about the rest of the season.
The Falcons find ways to lose, whether it’s with kicking fiascoes or not being able to slam the door on the Colts multiple times in Germany. The good news is first-round pick Jalon Walker played well again, with a sack and forced fumble. He has a shot at NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
How does a team win at Green Bay but then lose at home to New Orleans in back-to-back weeks? The Panthers weren’t as good as their 5-4 record, but losing to the Saints was unexpected. It’s a big setback after it looked like the Panthers had some momentum.
You can’t lose a game in which you lead 29-10 and are facing Davis Mills at quarterback. But the Jaguars probably didn’t deserve to win anyway. They were outgained 412-213. The offense disappeared in the fourth quarter as Houston rallied. Jacksonville isn’t a very good team.
It’s great that Jalen Nailor had a breakout 124-yard game, but it’s troubling that Justin Jefferson had just 37 yards on 12 targets. J.J. McCarthy can be a good quarterback, but he has to be able to get Jefferson the ball or it’s not going to work.
The Steelers are in a lot of trouble. The Ravens are just one game back. And we saw on Sunday night that Pittsburgh is a very limited team on both sides of the ball. Aaron Rodgers has been mostly good this season, but he was bad against the Chargers. Pittsburgh might sink fast.
The Texans have a good enough defense to keep them in any game, and it did its job on Sunday. They’re still a significant underdog to make the playoffs, but a wild comeback win over the Jaguars gives them a little bit of hope.
The 49ers have shown that they have enough juice to beat the bad teams on their schedule. Their next four opponents are the Cardinals, Panthers, Browns and Titans. This is a flawed team due to injuries but a 10-4 start to the season seems likely.
The Bears have won six of seven and it’s OK to not fully buy in. They probably wouldn’t have won Sunday if Jaxson Dart hadn’t gotten hurt in the third quarter. Still, no apologies needed for a 6-1 stretch. The comeback wins have plenty of value.
Losing to the Patriots isn’t great, but the rest of the NFC South is much worse. The Panthers’ loss to the Saints and the Falcons blowing it against the Colts further solidifies the Bucs as the favorite in the division. But to have a higher ceiling, the defense will have to show some improvement.
The Chargers' defense will keep them viable, even if the injured offensive line has a tough time protecting Justin Herbert. The Chargers have allowed 197 yards per game over their last three. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter seems very likely to have a head coaching job next season.
The Ravens are just 4-5 but realistically should be in the top 10 of these rankings. They’re going to get on a roll against an easy part of their schedule. A win over Minnesota was huge. It would be a shock if the Ravens don’t win the AFC North, perhaps by multiple games.
The Packers have been maddeningly inconsistent. The absolute dud on offense Monday night, after Green Bay could only score 13 points at home against Carolina, adds to the ongoing curiosity about why the Packers have been so mediocre.
A loss to the Dolphins might have exposed the Bills. Their September (miracle comeback over Ravens, tight wins over the Dolphins and Saints) doesn’t look so impressive anymore. They’re 2-3 since. The team needed to be active at the trade deadline and it did nothing.
The Patriots have played the easiest schedule this season and it’s bound to get tougher, right? Not really. The Patriots have the second-easiest remaining schedule, according to DVOA. There’s a good reason they’re the new favorite in the AFC East.
The Broncos are winning games, but that will not continue if the offense doesn’t get better. And after 10 weeks, is that really going to happen? Bo Nix’s regression in his second season has been undeniable. Denver hosts Kansas City this week. The offense needs to show up.
Jahmyr Gibbs has 40 touchdowns before he turns 24 years old. The only other players in NFL history to do that are Barry Sanders, Randy Moss, Emmitt Smith and Jim Brown, according to NFL Research, via Tim Twentyman with the Lions’ team site. That’s an unbelievable group for Gibbs to be a part of.
Chiefs at Broncos is a huge game. If the Chiefs lose, they’ll be 3 1/2 games behind Denver with seven to play. Without a win Sunday, Kansas City’s streak of nine straight AFC West titles is in serious jeopardy.
The Rams were too low for too long; it’s time to correct that. They have everything needed to win a Super Bowl. Matthew Stafford is an MVP candidate. Their first showdown against the Seahawks this season, which comes Sunday, will be fantastic theater.
The Seahawks have an argument to be even higher in the rankings. It’s hard to say anyone has been definitively better. Being up on Arizona 35-0 less than halfway through the second quarter was a statement. Now we see if they can beat the Rams on the road.
Only eight running backs last season had more than 1,139 yards. Only six had 15 or more rushing touchdowns last season. That’s Jonathan Taylor’s stat line after just 10 games. He’s the favorite to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year, but Taylor should be considered for a higher award than that.
The Eagles nearly shut out the Packers at Lambeau Field to get a win. There will be a lot said about Philly's offense after it struggled all night, but the defense having a huge night might be a massive step toward repeating as champs.