When the Colts went 13-0. Am I wrong? Is it because Boston is more of a sports town? Is it because they're on the East Coast? Or is it because for their first 8 games and the Buffalo game they completely annihilated opponents? Tell me what you think.
There was plenty of hype, but outside of the NE game (which was anti-climatic) they didn't have a team on the schedule that was overly interesting. The Pats have had 2 games of the century (at DAL, at IND) with PIT losing some of the luster after the Jets loss.
The backstories of Violatingoperatingprocedures-gate, running up the score and the Moss meltdown watch just makes the hype resonate more. It allows the media to make up stories and lead-ins with "experts" offering opinions as fact...case in point the Jaws report on Moss dogging it before the MNF game.
You could probably go back 2 months and see the weekly theme the media used to keep the Pats on the front page...
at DAL - Game of the century #1...Running up score late?
at MIA - Putting Brady back in the game, lookahead to Indy game
WAS - Seriously running up the score, lookahead to Indy game
at IND - Game of the century #2...Only won because of Indy injuries?
at BUF - Totally running up the score (starting to get tuned out at this point)
PHI - Blueprint
at BAL - Refs giving away the win, looking ahead to Pitt
Every game that the Pats don't lose will continue to be under scrutiny for the backstory to get the media through the week. So to answer your question, the hype seems greater because the media seems to be less inclined to allow the quality of play in the NFL to be the story (great games, great play, great finishes)...inserting "Behind the Music" features instead of "NFL Matchup" analysis. Not a positive development in my opinion.