I was thinking about the way the rest of the football world is obsessed with the Patriots' strength of schedule out of all proportion to how other teams are viewed. To me, that means that they're grasping for an answer to a broader question: "Who the hell ARE these guys? And how are they doing this???"
This is a team coming off a 4-win season that turned over the majority of their roster, coaching staff and front office. They're fielding 14 rookies, including half a dozen 7th-round and UDFA players. Key veterans include castoffs like Tonga and Chaisson and a 32-year-old WR coming off an ACL tear. And if you saw the Patriots early in the season they were still a little lost. So I get why it's tempting to focus on the schedule and dismiss them as frauds.
The thing is, the Patriots may not be as good as their stats...they may be better. Because it took a while to sort out all of those moving pieces and settle in to new schemes, and now they're playing their best team football.