By holding off the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, the defending champion New England Patriots improved to 10-0. Despite the battle over Tom Brady’s deflation suspension and injuries to Julian Edelman, Dion Lewis and now Danny Amendola, it cannot be too shocking that a team with New England’s pedigree is unbeaten.

Not so for the league’s other 10-0 team, the Panthers. Carolina was widely derided last season for making the playoffs despite a losing record, and its quarterback, Cam Newton, has for years been scorned for his unconventional style and middling statistics.

Before the season, you would have found few projecting the Panthers to be an elite team. Even now, respect is hard to come by. Though Carolina is likely to have home field throughout the playoffs, 7-3 Green Bay and 8-2 Arizona seem to be more popular picks to win the N.F.C.