They’re not the worst.
That’s what the New England Patriots proved in their 42-13 victory against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
New England, an organization which owned top-five selections in each of the last two NFL drafts, is making strides with head coach Mike Vrabel at the helm. That’s what the Patriots showed in their rout of the Panthers, who have finished with the worst record in the league in two of the last three seasons.
There are levels to the league and the Patriots aren’t at the bottom; the Panthers are.
“A bad team, which the Patriots have been, trying to get to mediocre needs to show separation from their fellow bad teams,” Patriots insider Tom E. Curran said on Patriots Postgame Live after the win. “This was a perfect instance where they were able to do do that.”
Does that mean the Patriots are going to exceed their projected win total and turn into a playoff team overnight? Not necessarily. But the Patriots earned their most decisive victory since 2022, and that is a step in the right direction regardless of who’s on the opposite sideline.
“How you play against Buffalo, how you prepare against Buffalo, how you deal with the success of this week, the relative success of this week matters. And I think next week becomes — this is good validation for today, ‘All right, we’re better than them.'” Curran said. “Now, are they in a position this week of preparation coming up to contend with the Bills team that is clearly one of the best in the NFL?”
“Then, after that you have a nice runway of crap teams to roll over,” Curran continued. “But this is a great checkpoint these next six days to show whether the Patriots are separating from bad to mediocre.”
Fellow Patriots insider Phil Perry highlighted how New England did not turn the ball over against the Panthers one week after doing so five times against the Steelers. That was a step in the right direction itself. As was New England’s ability to take a step in the right direction when it came to penalties, missed tackles and other things that caused the Patriots to drop two of their first three.
“Efficient across the board and, I thought, smart,” Perry said. “Dumb teams get a lead and give it away to other dumb teams and other bad teams. The Patriots got that lead and played well and clean. They played a cleanly football game the rest of the way.”
Sure, the victory came against a Panthers team on the fast track to irrelevance. But because of it, the Patriots avoided going down that road themselves.