The New England Patriots have cruised to a 5-0 record in the 2019 season, so when will Bill Belichick’s team actually face a real challenge?
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots started the 2019 season brightly with a 33-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, continuing their tradition of blowing out the AFC North’s traditional power. They followed that impressive win up by shutting out the tanking Miami Dolphins in a 43-0 game that was hardly a game at all.
Easy wins over two more AFC East “rivals” in the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills followed, leading to the Patriots game against the Washington Redskins in Week 5.
As expected, the Patriots took care of business against Washington, leading 26-7 heading into the fourth quarter in an ugly game that the Pats managed to put to bed with a 14-0 third quarter.
Anything less than a blowout victory over Washington would have been unacceptable for the Patriots. Firstly, because expectations are high for the Pats every season, especially after winning another Super Bowl last year. And secondly because Washington are so terrible that they basically have a “lame duck” head coach in Jay Gruden, who seems to be sparring with notoriously inept owner Dan Snyder.
So the Patriots picked up their guaranteed Week 5 win and now head into Week 6 with a spotless 5-0 record. They haven’t truly been tested, save for a relatively close game against Bills team that failed to put up a fight on offense, which means it’s hard to tell if the Patriots are still truly the best team in the AFC.
NFL fans will get to see exactly what the Patriots are made of soon. While upcoming games against the New York Giants and New York Jets are hardly true tests of strength, the Patriots will face the gauntlet starting on October 27 against the Cleveland Browns, which could be a playoff preview for both teams.
After facing the Browns, the Patriots will have to take on a handful of other playoff contenders in the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and Kansas City Chiefs. And they’ll face those teams in that exact order.
So the Patriots first tough game of the season will most likely come against the Browns at the end of October. But that stretch of six straight games will be the true litmus test of Super Bowl candidacy for the AFC’s mightiest powerhouse. Those matchups with the Eagles, Cowboys, and Chiefs will be especially telling. The Patriots lost to the Eagles in the Super Bowl two years ago, barely beat the Chiefs in last year’s AFC Championship Game, and could easily end up facing Dallas in this year’s Super Bowl.
Basically, the schedule starts getting interesting for New England around November, but what’s scary is that this is usually when Bill Belichick’s teams start heating up. The Patriots have been playing in snoozefests lately, including today’s easy win over Washington, but be prepared for things to get a whole lot more interesting in Foxboro.