The 2025 season for the Buffalo Bills had its great moments, but there were some frustrating times and ultimately, it cost them the AFC East for the first time this decade. Every season since Tom Brady left the New England Patriots, the Bills have always been the favorites to win the division and they should be. However, that clearly didn’t happen last year as the division title went to the Patriots.
Buffalo and New England split the season series last year, but the Patriots ended up having two more wins which gave them the 2-seed in the AFC playoffs. The Bills were forced to go on the road as the 6-seed.
Now that the Patriots are defending AFC East champions, the Bills will be looking to take it back in 2026. While the Bills will have a tough schedule, the Patriots will be playing a first team schedule which is the complete opposite of what they did last year.
Patriots are destined to take step back in 2026 season
NFL Spin Zone’s Lou Scataglia listed the Patriots as one of the four teams that are destined to regress in 2026. The other three teams were the Eagles, Steelers, and Jaguars. For New England, Scataglia focused on the schedule that New England had in 2025 and how they will face much better opponents in 2026.
"The New England Patriots had an insanely easy schedule in the 2025 season, but now for 2026, the team is projected to have among the toughest slates in the league. It could not be more of a change, and last year, the Patriots rode that schedule all the way to the Super Bowl." said Scataglia.
Even though the Patriots did have a very easy schedule, any team should have done what they did and take advantage of it. They did what needed to be done and they made it further than any other AFC team. Eventually, they were embarrassed by the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, which showed the lack of true talent that the Patriots had.
Their offseason additions haven’t been anything overwhelming and right now, they don’t look like a first place team. Yet they will be playing a first team schedule, which is setting them up to step back. That’s where the Bills have to take advantage and reclaim the division to make it run through Buffalo once again.
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