Insane Stat Proves Patriots’ Schedule Was Ridiculously Easy After All
Just ask all the head coaches they faced
During the 2025-26 regular season, the New England Patriots’ schedule was historically easy.
Just ask the head coaches they played against, many of whom are no longer with their teams.
The Patriots played 15 teams during the regular season, nearly all of whom moved on from their head coaches over the last few weeks. The only ones that didn’t are the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and teams from the NFC South — the NFL’s weakest division.
Surprisingly, the three coaches who beat New England this season all parted ways with their teams: Pete Carroll of the Las Vegas Raiders, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills. Even more surprisingly, Tomlin and McDermott both had winning records and made the playoffs.
The Jets and Bengals should have fired their head coaches as well but bafflingly retained them, so that number should be even higher. Aaron Glenn will get another crack with New York after leading them to 14 losses and another last-place finish in the AFC East, while Zac Taylor remains in Cincinnati despite losing 11 games, missing the postseason for the third year in a row and squandering another season of Joe Burrow.
The incompetence of those franchises makes the Patriots’ decisions to move on from Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo even better in hindsight. They were easy calls at the time, but many other teams wouldn’t have made them.
That’s why they continue to spiral, while New England rebuilt under Mike Vrabel and returned to the Super Bowl in record time.
