In the opener, the Patriots were a defensive sieve, the quarterback had a dumb pick, and there were dumb penalties. They lost by seven.

In Week 2, the defense was still a sieve and there were more dumb penalties, but the quarterback was flawless. They won by six.

In Week 3, the defense was very good (in my opinion), and the quarterback AND the running backs had stupid turnovers. They lost by seven.

In Week 4, the defense was very good, the special teams was very good, and the quarterback made responsible decisions and threw accurately (hence, very good). They won by 29.

I said it before. I’ll say it again: There’s a good team in there trying to get out.

“When we don’t beat ourselves and we take care of the football and we play complementary football and we get stops on third down, the return, the special teams are a factor, and we score touchdowns in the red zone, it can look like something,” Mike Vrabel said after Sunday’s 42-13 dissection of the Panthers. “Again, that’s not guaranteed every week, but certainly we can see the difference in how critical those phases are and putting them all together.”

The requisite qualifiers and caveats are going to be attached to this win. The main one: Carolina f*&^%^& stinks. That’s fair. HOWEVER! You gotta realize the Patriots also stink. Or — more accurately — they USED TO stink.

They won fewer games than Carolina last season. But when you go from being worse than a team like the Panthers to beating them by 29 (coulda been 36) less than a month into the next season, it’s not all on the team you just smoked.

Drake Maye’s better. The offensive line is better. The offensive scheme and play-calling is MILES better. The wideouts are better. The pass rush is better. The defensive front is better. The return games are better.  

The Patriots have 102 points in four games. They didn’t get past 100 last season until Week 8, right before Halloween. In 2023, it took them until Week 7. By every measure, they’ve improved. A lot.

And YET!!! Doesn’t this somehow make the 2-2 September even more maddening? Even though most of you would have signed up for 2-2 if you asked in August, seeing it play out in real time still gives you plenty to lament.

Seeing how they blew their own foot off against the Raiders and Steelers? Seeing they could win DESPITE mistakes against the Dolphins? Now, seeing that a clean game results in a tremendous beatdown?

They should be 4-0 after spending a month getting loose against BP pitching. They should be going to Buffalo undefeated.

I don’t wanna hear, “You are what your record says you are.” People have been sucking on that pithy bit of philosophy for decades like it’s a pearl of wisdom. The Chiefs are 2-2 just like the Patriots. So, that would be a fair fight? Are the 3-1 Steelers better than the 2-1-1 Packers?

We know what we’re looking at.

A Patriots team that’s actually BETTER than its .500 record says it is. Going in against a Bills team that is still a mile-and-a-half ahead of them.

Vrabel admitted Monday morning on WEEI that, yes, Sunday’s win did validate to his players that the program is working. Honestly, that kind of performance could not have come at a better time.

Their own competency is fresh in their minds. They’ve seen themselves play with more than half-a-brain.

“We’re going on the road, 8:20 p.m., Sunday night, everybody’s gonna be watching,” Vrabel said as he broke his team down in the postgame locker room. “Everybody’s gonna be watching and I’m kinda excited that they are. That’s how we’re supposed to play. That’s what the expectation is.”