Falcons fans at Gillette Stadium waved their “Rise Up” signs to rally the visiting team on Sunday, but it was the Patriots who took it to heart. Another win gave them six in a row plus another boost up the power rankings. New England is showing consistency in a chaotic NFL year. Last week, seven games were decided by one score or less. The Patriots currently control their own destiny and that’s mind-boggling considering how low they’ve been ranked the past five years.

Up next the Patriots are on the road to Tampa Bay to face the 6-2 Buccaneers, followed by a Thursday Night game vs. the Jets at home. The Baker Mayfield-led Bucs are coming off their bye and it will be a tough matchup. Mayfield is a competitor who won’t give up, so the Pats will need all 60 minutes — no napping. I’ll be hoping to see another fast start from New England and a stout defense to allow the Patriots to play with a lead — we saw how valuable that was against the Falcons. The Bills have an easier challenge, facing the Dolphins in Miami this week.

Pats head into this game as an underdog (2.5), but if they win the turnover battle, I believe they’ll win straight up. Christian Gonzalez cleared concussion protocol and his team plays well on the road.

New England Patriots (7-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2)

Buffalo Bills (6-2) at Miami Dolphins (2-7)

New York Jets (1-7) vs. Cleveland Browns (2-6)

Indianapolis Colts (7-2) vs. Atlanta Falcons (3-5)

Denver Broncos (7-2) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-6)

Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3) at Los Angeles Chargers (6-3)

Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3) at Houston Texans (3-5)

Kansas City Chiefs (5-4) – Bye Week

Baltimore Ravens (3-5) at Minnesota Vikings (4-4)

Cincinnati Bengals (3-6) – Bye Week

Tennessee Titans (1-8) – Bye Week

5th – Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): They have beaten up on a bad schedule, but they have impressed in doing so. They have a prove-it game this week at Tampa against the Bucs. [+4]

7th – Nate Davis (USA Today): The only team that has yet to allow a running back to rush for 50 yards − and the Pats have faced the likes of Bijan Robinson, James Cook III and De’Von Achane. [+3]

8th – Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): DeMario Douglas had a good game, but the Patriots still need more at receiver. Stefon Diggs is probably best in a secondary role at this point in his career. New England has the resources to make a strong move before the deadline. [+1]

8th – NFL Nation (ESPN): Most important game remaining: Week 15 vs. the Bills. The Patriots already beat Buffalo in Week 5, and sweeping the season series would give them the edge in a potential tiebreaker in the AFC East standings. The Bills have won the past five division titles. On the day New England coach Mike Vrabel was hired in January, he said the team’s goals are to win the division, host home playoff games and compete for championships. — Mike Reiss. [+2]

8th – Conor Orr (SI): This week on The MMQB podcast, I played a game with co-host Albert Breer. If you remove Allen, Mahomes and Jackson and also take Sean McVay out of the fold, which offense as presently constructed are you most scared of? I said Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears. Albert? Josh McDaniels and the New England Patriots. [+3]

9th – Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): The Patriots got to their same old offensive work with Drake Maye but they were fortunate it held up with the defense breaking down. That’s bad timing for a second-half full of more challenging offensive teams. [nc]

9th – Ralph Vacchiano (FOX Sports): Six straight wins isn’t nothing, even against a soft schedule. Maybe they deserve to be higher, but it took a missed extra point to beat the Falcons and their offense shut down in the second half. [+2]

9th – Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): Drake Maye for MVP. [+1]

11th – Diante Lee (The Ringer): I never would’ve guessed the 2025 Patriots could control their own destiny. New England is by no means a top-five team, and yet it has the inside track to the no. 1 seed in the AFC — if not finishing the regular season with the league’s best overall record — because of how light its schedule is from here. Outside of a back-to-back stretch against Buffalo and Baltimore in December, there aren’t any opponents left on the schedule that I’m certain would beat this team. And if Drake Maye wins those games against their MVP quarterbacks, he’ll have a strong MVP case of his own. [+1]

11th – Eric Edholm (NFL.com): Style points be damned; the Patriots have won six straight games. Yes, this was a step back in terms of execution, as they nearly blew a two-TD lead with a shaky second-half performance. New England had outscored its previous two opponents (Tennessee and Cleveland) in the second half by a combined tally of 37-6, but Atlanta was the better team after the break on Sunday, nearly stealing a win. This is a reminder, I think, that while the Patriots are indeed vastly improved, they’re ultimately only as good as Drake Maye is. Maye was sacked six times, lost a key fumble and threw a wild pick. He’s been terrific this season, but New England is letting him take way, way too many hits. [nc]