The Patriots have played in a national window three times this year. That has yet to be a good thing for the team, both in the standings in terms of national perception.

Drake Maye was dreadful in the season-opening loss in Seattle. The Patriots stayed competitive but were ultimately handled by the Bears on Thursday Night Football in Week 7. And of course, hosting the Packers in Week 9, with Tom Brady on the call, the Patriots authored one of their most embarrassing defeats in the history of Gillette Stadium.

As you might expect, it's difficult to find too many folks feeling impressed by the 2026 Patriots.

They will have a chance to change some minds this week, as they'll kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday when they take on the 6-2 Lions in Munich. If they can pull off that win despite dealing with a never-ending avalanche of injuries, perhaps they can begin to turn the tide.

For the time being, though, they're beginning to lose believers from the national football media. Here's a look at where they stack up in this week's power rankings around the internet.

ESPN: 14th
Last week: 11th

Tom Brady: (Out of top 10)
Last week: 8th

Tom Brady only does a top 10, and though the Patriots had climbed into the eighth spot, he had to remove them after the loss to the Packers. Conversely, Brady was so impressed by the Packers -- who hadn't made his top 10 last week -- that he put them at No. 7 this week.

Pro Football Talk: 14th
Last week: 10th

"The regression continues," wrote Mike Florio.

CBS Sports: 12th
Last week: 11th

"That was an awful showing all the way around against the Packers," Pete Prisco wrote. "They can't turn it over the way they did in that game and expect to win."

The Athletic: 14th
Last week: 11th

"Regression was inevitable after last season’s magical Super Bowl run, but the biggest concern involves their highest-paid players. Christian Gonzalez is coming off the worst game of his career, while A.J. Brown remains out with knee and ankle injuries," Chad Graff and/or Josh Kendall wrote, while giving the team a midseason grade of B-minus. "That blockbuster trade is starting to look like a flop for New England."

NFL.com: 15th
Last week: 11th

"When Christian Gonzalez -- New England’s star corner -- is getting cooked in coverage to the tune of 10 receptions for 187 yards and a touchdown, per Next Gen Stats, and Drake Maye is throwing three interceptions, we might finally be arriving at a point of agreement: Perhaps these Patriots are just a middling team that could sneak into the playoffs but won’t come close to the AFC title run they went on last season," Nick Shook wote.

Yahoo! Sports: 14th
Last week: 11th

Sports Illustrated: 15th
Last week: 14th

Average spot: 14th
Average drop from last week: 2 spots

Certainly, the Patriots earned this drop. A 45-27 loss at home will have that effect. And with the team sitting at 5-4, there's unquestionably a feeling that the Patriots are teetering as they head into a tough matchup in Munich.

And even though most reasonable observers expected a regression after last year's team tallied a ridiculous 14 regular-season wins, it is nevertheless jarring to see the Patriots consistently ranking behind teams like the Giants and even the Steelers, whom they beat 20-3 earlier this season.

Ultimately, humans are reactionary, so the rankings will always reflect the most recent results. Still, it's clear that lots of analysts looked at last year's run as a fluke and thus have been waiting to be proven correct. Sunday's shellacking provided plenty of ammo to drive the Patriots farther down the rankings.

And with a difficult challenge awaiting with the Lions in Germany, followed by New England's bye week, the picture could get worse before it gets better.