The New England Patriots have not faced much adversity during the 2025 season. New England came into Week 15 at 11-2 and could have punched their ticket to the playoffs with a win over Buffalo. Instead, the Bills crushed the Patriots 35-31 after erasing a 21-0 lead by New England in the second quarter.
Perhaps the Patriots simply got too comfortable after their 10-game winning streak. If that's the case, a loss is definitely the wake-up call that New England needed.
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry admitted that Sunday's loss was a big reality check for the team.
“This is definitely a reality check. That’s a good football team… but we’ve gotta get a lot better, fast,” Henry said, via Sports Illustrated's Mike Kadlick.
But it is hard to blame New England's offense for their loss against Buffalo. After all, they were not the unit that surrendered 35 points in the final three quarters of the game.
Below we will explore why New England's defense could hold them back during the playoffs in 2025.
Patriots have benefitted from an incredibly easy schedule in 2025
Obviously the Patriots can only play the teams in front of them on the schedule. But they can still benefit from having a soft list of opponents.
This is probably the only scenario where strength of schedule is actually a useful stat.
New England came into the 2025 season with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. Their opponents had a combined record of 124-165 in 2024, a winning percentage of .429.
In fact, the Bills are by far the best team on the Patriots' schedule this season, and it isn't really that close. Give New England credit for getting one win against Buffalo, but Sunday's outcome has that game looking more like fool's gold.
Ultimately the problem with a soft schedule is not being a fraud or deceiving the rest of the league. It is not being battle tested during the regular season.
NFL football is a whole different animal during the playoffs. New England's schedule did not offer much practice against elite competition, which by itself should have Patriots fans concerned.
Is New England's defense good enough to hang with elite NFL offenses?
On paper, the Patriots have a solid defense that is better than much of the NFL.
New England has allowed an average of 300.1 yards per game this season, which is the seventh best in the league. They are incredibly stingy against the run and have only allowed 19.7 points per game, even when adding in Sunday's blowout loss.
But the Patriots are below average in terms of takeaways (14), which makes their defense a little less dangerous.
The Patriots failed their big test against the Bills, one of the NFL's best offenses. Not every team can threaten their opponents like Allen and the Bills. However, they are a good measuring stick for going up against elite competition.
If New England cannot beat Buffalo in a game where they lead 21-0 at home, in a playoff atmosphere, why should I believe it will be any different in the actual playoffs?
None of this is to say that the Patriots have a bad defense. But it clearly is vulnerable against the best offenses in the league.
Can Drake Maye, Patriots' offense make up for failing defense?
Drake Maye was playing incredibly well during the first half of Sunday's big game.
Maye rumbled for two rushing touchdowns and had New England's offense humming along pretty good. They set themselves up in great position to win the game.
Unfortunately, Maye was not able to will his team to victory by himself.
In fairness, the Patriots took the ball out of Maye's hands frequently throughout Week 15. Maye only threw 23 passes, compared to 25 rushing plays. On the face of it that makes sense, as the Patriots wanted to melt the clock and escape with a win. But it is concerning that New England couldn't make it happen, especially after running for 246 rushing yards.
New England's lack of talent on offense is another reason for concern ahead of the playoffs. Maye's top targets were Mack Hollins (8) and Stefon Diggs (4), not exactly elite playmakers in 2025.
Patriots fans have plenty of reason for optimism about the future. Drake Maye is at the center of it after his MVP-caliber season.
But the 2025 version of the Patriots may simply be a year too early to seriously compete in the playoffs.
