The Patriots didn’t inspire much in the way of confidence prior to the start of last season.
Coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons, oddsmakers didn’t favor them in any of their 2025 regular season games. They had the Patriots as underdogs from start to finish.
This year?
The script has flipped. In a big way.
According to DraftKings, the Pats are favored in 11 of their 17 games.
While Jerod Mayo, who took over for Bill Belichick last year, didn’t generate much in the way of optimism, Mike Vrabel certainly has sparked considerable buzz around New England.
Between his track record as a head coach, offseason moves made, Drake Maye entering Year 2, and the hype over the newest draft class, he’s already hooked some into being believers. While they aren’t favored by much in any of the 11 games, the fact they’re favored at all says something.
It helps that based on last season, the Patriots have the third-easiest schedule in terms of strength of schedule.
The only teams they’re not favored against are the two games with Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and one of the games with the Dolphins in Miami.
While lines can change, here are the games the Patriots are favored in:
Week 1 vs. Las Vegas: Patriots favored by 3.5 points
Week 3 vs. Pittsburgh: Patriots favored by 1.5 points
Week 4 vs. Carolina: Patriots favored by 3.5 points
Week 6 @ New Orleans: Patriots favored by 3.0 points
Week 7 @ Tennessee: Patriots favored by 1.5 points
Week 8 vs. Cleveland: Patriots favored by 5.5 points
Week 9 vs. Atlanta: Patriots favored by 3.0 points
Week 11 vs. New York Jets: Patriots favored by 5.5 points
Week 13 vs. New York Giants: Patriots favored by 3.0 points
Week 17 @ New York Jets: Patriots favored by 1.5 points
Week 18 vs. Miami: Patriots favored by 2.5 points
