"New England's road win over the Miami Dolphins was fun for all the wrong reasons. The Patriots made life difficult on themselves with self-inflicted penalties, a porous defense, and some brutal coverage (and kicking) on special teams. For all of Vrabel's talk this offseason about eliminating bad football, the Patriots clearly have a lot of work to do entering a pivotal stretch of home games with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers."
"Thanks to a favorable 2025 schedule overall, the Patriots (1-1) remain a dark horse to hang around in the AFC playoff picture this season. Sunday's key win over a divisional opponent naturally led to a bump in their playoff odds. According to DraftKings, New England climbed to +140 to qualify for the postseason. At first glance, that seems perfectly reasonable, as the Patriots are likely to have a much more organized operation in November than they do in the first month of the season."
"Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon is not taking the cheese on the Patriots. He's selling New England's odds at +140 as far too generous. "You need to give me better odds than that considering how much this roster is still working through as part of a rebuild. They laid an egg in their home opener and have almost no shot in the division, while the AFC North and West are much more likely to produce wild-card teams.""
The Patriots earned a road win but showed numerous flaws through two games, including costly penalties, a weak defense, and poor special teams coverage and kicking. Mike Vrabel praised players after the victory, yet the roster still requires significant improvement before upcoming home games against Pittsburgh and Carolina. A favorable overall 2025 schedule keeps New England in the AFC playoff conversation, and DraftKings moved their postseason odds to +140. At least one analyst views those odds as overly generous, citing a roster in rebuild, a poor home opener, and stronger wild-card competition from other divisions.
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