Pats Pulpit
Having won three games in a row, the New England Patriots are current co-owners of the longest win streak in the NFL. Their recent success has catapulted them to the top of the AFC East for the first time in nearly four years, and also made them one of the hottest teams in all of football.
Are they really, though? Momentum definitely is on their side, there is no denying that, but a deeper dive into the numbers shows that there are also several areas of concern still.
That being said, as the following graphic illustrates, they are a fringe top-10 team at the moment.
Considering the circumstances of a club under a new coaching staff, ranking in the vicinity of other playoff hopefuls at this point in time is nothing short of impressive. Offensively, the Patriots are right up there with some of the better teams in the NFL, whereas their defense has been playing well enough to keep them in contention on a week-to-week basis.
Let’s dive deeper into the statistics entering the upcoming Week 7 game against the Tennessee Titans.
For a more detailed explanation of the numbers presented in this breakdown, please click here.
Last year, the Patriots offense was among the worst in football across the board. This year, it is an entirely different story. While there are still areas of concern — more on those in a second — the unit has taken a major step forward, which in turn has been the catalyst between the team’s current surge.
There appear to be three main reasons why that is the case:
Add it all up, and you get an above-average offense six games into the season. And given New England’s recent history, above average is a massive step forward.
The backbone of the Patriots’ offensive success is their passing game, which is one of the most productive and efficient in the NFL so far no matter the metric you like to use. What stands out, though, is that the unit’s overall success moving the ball through the air seems to be independent of their ability to pass block. While Drake Maye is playing from clean pockets on almost two thirds of his dropbacks, that number is ranked only 18th in the league.
A look at the adjusted sack rate and pass block win rate through six games further illustrates this. The pass blocking is much better than it was last year — in 2024, New England ranked dead-last with a clean pocket rate of 55.8% — but it still has room for improvement.
Even with his pass blocking not always up to par, Drake Maye has played some impressive football — to a point where he finds himself in the early MVP conversation. We had the debate about his top-10 status among...
