“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” is how Charles Dickens opened his novel A Tale of Two Cities. While he wasn’t thinking about the New England Patriots and New York Giants in 1859, his opening line applies to these two teams in 2025.
It has been the best of times for the Patriots and their first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. Tonight, the Patriots could accomplish something that has never been done in professional football history, that is score 23 or more points and allow 23 or less points in ten straight games.
Why might that be significant? The five previous teams to do that in at least seven straight games went on to win their league championship. The Philadelphia Eagles did it in 1949 and won the NFL Championship. In 1961, the Houston Oilers of the American Football League did it for a record nine straight weeks and then went on to win the AFC title. In the Super Bowl era, three teams did it before the Patriots this season, they were the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, 1999 St. Louis Rams, and 2024 Philadelphia Eagles, all Super Bowl winners.
Does that mean the Patriots are going to win Super Bowl LX? Nothing is for sure, but it certainly is a road sign this season that points in that direction.
While the Patriots are enjoying the best of times, the Giants are not.
In November, the Giants fired two coaches. First out was head coach Brian DaBoll, and two weeks later, after the Giants blew a lead to the Detroit Lions and lost, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was shown the door.