I am tired of writing about fired football coaches; so, I’ll postpone comment on some other firings until later and check a few other items from my clipboard. I will start with the New England Patriots who find themselves in first place in the AFC East this week with a record of 4-2-0. Back in August, I thought the Pats would finish the season at 7-10-0; I said they would be significantly improved this year over last year, but I did not consider them “division winning material”. I still do not think they will win the AFC East, but looking at the Pats’ schedule between now and December 14th when they play the Bills again in Foxboro this time, they could be in solid playoff contention:
- At Titans: Titans are 1-5-0 and Pats are 3-0-0 on the road this year.
- Vs Browns: Browns are 1-5-0
- Vs Falcons: Could be a tough home game for the Pats
- At Bucs: This will be a stress test for the Pats
- Vs Jets: Jets are the only winless team in the NFL now – – for good reason.
- At Bengals: Without Joe Burrow, this team is beatable
- Vs Giants: Is Jaxon Dart this year’s Jayden Daniels or not?
- BYE Week
- Dec 14, 2025: The Bills come to Foxboro
The Pats could be 9-4-0 coming into that rematch with the Bills off a BYE Week to prepare. That would be a significant surprise for this NFL season; the Pats won only 4 games in all of 2024.
I am not remotely trying to “write off” the Bills in the AFC East. [Aside: I am perfectly willing to write off the Dolphins and the Jets in that division … but not the Bills.] The first month or so of this season showed that the Bills have flaws that opponents can exploit. One glaring flaw is the Bills’ defense against the run; the Bills just do not stop the run. So far in 2025, the Bills have given up more yards rushing that all but one other team.
- Rush yards allowed = 938 or 156.3 yards per game
- Rush yards allowed per attempt = 5.8 – – worst in the NFL.
The Bills’ inability to stop the run hurts the team along two dimensions:
- It allows opponents to move the ball regularly and confidently.
- It keeps the Bills’ All-World QB, Josh Allen, on the bench and not on the field.
Moving on … The NFL regular season is about one-third over; there are some unusual numbers in the standings this morning that are probably more interesting than they are important.
- The Bucs are 5-1-0 for the season; no team has a better record today; nonetheless, the Bucs point differential is a measly +14.
- The Steelers are 4-1-0 for the season; the Steelers point differential is +12
- The Eagles are 4-2-0 for the season; the Eagles point differential is minus-1.
- The Niners are 4-2-0 for the season; the Niners point differential is minus-3
- The Chargers are 4-2-0 for the season; the Chargers point differential is +2
- The Bears are 3-2-0 for the season; the Bears point differential is minus-15.
- The Texans are 2-3-0 for the season; the Texans point differential is +47
- The Cards are 2-4-0 for the season; the Cards point differential is +3.
The best point differential in the NFL this morning is +78 and that stature belongs to the Indy Colts. The worst point differential in the NFL this morning is minus-80 and that position of embarrassment belongs to the Cincy Bengals. Lest you are wondering … the Bengals and the Colts do not play each other in this season…
Finally, this from Alfred North Whitehead:
“It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………