No turkey hangover for these Patriots. New England quickly put the New York Giants in a tryptophan funk after the visitors came out flat and the Patriots defense kept them flat all game long. LB Christian Elliss was flying around hitting everything in sight, old-school style. Hard not to love the full-pop energy, especially after a week of the media warning of a tough Giants pass rush vs. an injury-hamstrung offensive line. The ‘trap game’ flag was flying but the Pats grabbed it, throttled it, and lit it on fire. Next up they hit the Bye Week hard at 11-2 and on top of the league.

Week 14 is too late for a bye week. The injury bug didn’t hit the Pats where it hurts until the last few games – a testament to the coaching staff’s focus on treatment as well as some good old-fashioned luck. Health will be key going forward and as late as it is, the break from bodies taking a pounding will be welcomed. Lots of divisional games on the schedule this week. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the Bills, Broncos, Chargers and Chiefs, and a side eye on Ravens at Steelers. I predict the Pats win the bye week. Mike Vrabel will keep the team focused on finishing strong while they rest, recover and scout out the upcoming matchups.

New England Patriots (11-2) -Bye Week

Buffalo Bills (8-4) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (4-8)

Miami Dolphins (5-7) at New York Jets (3-9)

Denver Broncos (10-2) at Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)

Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) vs. Indianapolis Colts (8-4)

Baltimore Ravens (6-6) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6)

Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)

Houston Texans (7-5) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-6)

Cleveland Browns (3-9) vs. Tennessee Titans (1-11)

1st – NFL Nation (ESPN): X factor for final stretch: Defensive tackle Christian Barmore. With starting DT Milton Williams on injured reserve because of a high ankle sprain for at least the next two games and No. 3 DT Khyiris Tonga slowed by a chest injury from Week 12, more of the burden falls on Barmore. Through the first nine weeks, the Patriots hadn’t allowed an opposing running back to gain 50 rushing yards in a game. But in Weeks 10-12, Patriots opponents averaged more than 5.0 yards a carry. — Mike Reiss. [+2]

1st – Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): They just keep on winning. They head to their bye on a 10-game winning streak. Up after the bye: the Buffalo Bills. They are rolling. [+1]

1st – Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): The post-Brady/Belichick doldrums are officially over. [+2]

1st – Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): The Patriots got a prime-time showcase again for Drake Maye’s MVP candidacy, strengthened by him picking apart the Giants at home on Monday night. They get a well-deserved bye in Week 14. [+2]

1st – Ralph Vacchiano (FOX Sports): They toyed with the Giants as they rode their 10th straight win into the bye week. Now they’ll have a chance to clinch their first AFC East title since the last year of the Brady-Belichick dynasty (2019) in two weeks against the Bills. [+1]

2nd – Nate Davis (USA Today): It’s tempting to declare the team with the NFL’s best record (11-2) as the league’s best. But as much as QB Drake Maye and Co. have shown, we need to see just a little more − and against better competition. [+1]

3rd – Conor Orr (SI): I respect Mike Vrabel for going into controlled scrimmage mode in a sub two-minute situation before the half to get some work in against the Giants, mostly because it punishes Mike Kafka for refusing to go for it on fourth-and-1 near midfield. That field goal isn’t anything but a hard lesson learned (and probably some massive bet-altering game event that just ruined a parlay). [+2]

4th – Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): The Patriots are the first 11-win team in the NFL. They’re not higher in the rankings because a lot of their work has come against the NFL’s easiest schedule, including the Giants on Monday night. That’s OK, the Patriots have mostly taken care of business against bad teams and are in position to keep pushing toward the AFC’s No. 1 seed. If the Mike Vrabel/Drake Maye combo needs just two home wins to make a Super Bowl, there’s a good chance they’ll make it. Nobody will remember their strength of schedule. [nc]

4th – Eric Edholm (NFL.com): Monday smelled like a potential trap game coming in, but the Patriots quickly dispelled that notion with a dominant first-half showing against the Giants, taking a 30-7 lead into the locker room. Drake Maye earned more “M-V-P” chants, the defense held New York to 239 total yards and Marcus Jones housed another punt. If Maye wins MVP, it’s because he’s been consistently good (or better) in pretty much every game since the Week 1 loss to Las Vegas, which certainly will go down as one of the most shocking results of the season. Ever since then, the Pats have improved vastly, becoming a complete football team. They might not dominate in a lot of areas outside of Maye making tougher plays look easy, but they also don’t have many glaring weaknesses. Injuries have sunk their teeth into the starting lineup a bit, but the replacements really stepped up on Monday night. [+1]

7th – Diante Lee (The Ringer): I’m ready to see this team play in games that matter. We have plenty of evidence through 13 weeks that New England can beat up on the weaker competition in the league–just like it did on Monday night against a flailing Giants squad–but we. haven’t seen this team be pushed hard enough to determine whether it’s a real championship contender. The Patriots have played only three teams that currently have a winning record, and two were in the NFC South (Carolina and Tampa Bay). If this is truly one of the league’s elite teams, I want to see it make an emphatic case by beating Buffalo (again) and Baltimore in the coming weeks. [+2]