The New England Patriots defied the odds to reach the Super Bowl as a 200-to-1 long shot at FanDuel.
After the clock struck midnight in Super Bowl 60, the biggest question now is when will we see New England back in an AFC Championship game?
Mike Vrabel earned AP NFL Coach of the Year honours and Drake Maye was an AP NFL regular season MVP finalist after leading the Patriots turnaround from a 4-13 season in 2024 to a 14-3 record in 2025, an AFC East title, and a trip to the Super Bowl.
However, New England’s biggest flaws were completely exposed by the Seattle Seahawks on the biggest stage.
Can the Patriots improve enough this offseason to build off a spectacular turnaround and run it back with another deep playoff run next season?
As it stands this morning, New England isn’t even a top three choice to win the AFC Championship at FanDuel.
Let’s review the early FanDuel AFC title futures for the 2026 NFL season in this Morning Coffee for Tuesday February 10th, 2026.
Can The Patriots Run It Back In Loaded AFC?
If you’re still wondering what happened to the Patriots offence in the Super Bowl, don’t overlook the obvious.
Maye is the second-youngest QB to start a Super Bowl.
After getting sacked exactly five times in all three playoff games on the road to the Super Bowl, Maye was sacked six times by Seattle in the season finale.
Remember, Maye’s 47 regular season sacks are the second-most by any quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
He was sacked a franchise-record 68 times this season.
While everybody has been quick to throw him under the bus, it’s surprising that nobody is talking about the fact that he was dealing with a shoulder injury and likely aggravated it in the loss to the Seahawks.
It’s obvious Maye played hurt, and it impacted his game.
Regardless of why things went so wrong versus Seattle, there’s plenty of cause for pause when it comes to evaluating New England’s AFC futures at FanDuel.
The Patriots have a legitimate franchise cornerstone entering his prime in Maye, a young defence with plenty of star power, and a solid coaching staff.
On the flip side, their offensive line needs a major upgrade, they could use an alpha No. 1 wide receiver, the AFC is stacked, and the schedule will get a lot tougher.
After navigating one of the league’s easiest schedules in 2025, the Patriots face one of the NFL’s toughest in 2026.
Once again, New England will play a home-and-home against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
An AFC East title means a first-place schedule that includes an AFC Championship rematch a date with the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers and a trip to face the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars.
The AFC East will also play all four teams from the AFC West and the NFC North divisions.
That means an AFC Championship rematch against the Denver Broncos at home, hosting the Las Vegas Raiders, and road games against a pair of postseason contenders in the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Patriots will also host the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings, plus travel for games against the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions.
As if the Bills, AFC West, and NFC North isn’t bad enough, New England will also travel to face the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks next season.
If the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets improve, which seems like a must considering how bad they were in 2025, a gauntlet of a slate will become even tougher.
Meanwhile, there are several AFC teams expected to take a step forward after injuries and inconsistent play limited their potential and opened the floor for the Patriots to make a Super Bowl run this season.
That list includes the Broncos, Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Indianapolis Colts in particular.
We also still haven’t even mentioned a potential bounce back by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
As it stands this morning, the Bills and Ravens are the co-favourites to win the AFC championship at +550.
Two MVP-calibre QBs, two new head coaches in place, and the potential we see both teams upgrade talented rosters in the draft and free agency this offseason.
Then there’s the Chargers at +700 to win the AFC title.
It’s easy to forget how beat up LA’s offensive line was all season, or the fact that Justin Herbert played hurt for most of the second half of the year.
With a return to health, another year to tinker with the roster, and a new offensive coordinator in Mike McDaniel, it’s no surprise the Chargers are so high on the list of AFC championship contenders per FanDuel.
LA is followed by the Patriots and Chiefs at +750.
Which team is the better bet to make a run in 2026?
Interestingly, both teams have shorter odds than Denver, which was the AFC’s No. 1 seed and fell one win short of the Super Bowl after losing Bo Nix to a broken ankle.
Is there a good reason why the Broncos can’t run it back?
The Jaguars and Texans are +1000 to win the AFC title.
Then it’s Joe Burrow and the Bengals at +1300.
It’s a long way down until we get to the Colts at +2000, which is interesting because for a while it looked like they could be the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed.
A grueling schedule combined with the loss of Daniel Jones completely derailed Indy’s season after a hot start.
Suddenly, the AFC South seems very deep on paper, with Jacksonville, Houston, and Indianapolis joined by another intriguing team with a new head coach in Robert Saleh’s Tennessee Titans.
Cam Ward certainly flashed enough potential to merit some consideration that the foundation in Tennessee is strong enough for Saleh to build on.
The Steelers are +3500 to win the AFC championship, followed by the rival Cleveland Browns at +5000.
The Titans and Raiders are both +6500 to win it.
The Dolphins and Jets have the longest odds to win the AFC title at FanDuel at +10000.
Are you a believer in Maye and the Patriots’ potential to run it back with another postseason run in 2026?
Or is New England destined to take a big step back?
If so, is there another team you think is a good bet to win the AFC championship at FanDuel?
Hit me up @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know.
In the meantime, this seems like the perfect opportunity to hit the pause button for a quick reset for this column following a long and grueling NFL season.
Thank you all for another wonderful NFL season.
Morning Coffee will return on Monday February 23rd.
Until then, stay warm everyone!
