Why isn’t anyone really talking about the 9-2 Patriots right now?

Is it possible for a 9-2 record to be a disappointment? For a seven-game winning streak to go unnoticed?

When victory has become as commonplace as it is in New England, the answer is yes.

The Patriots have established themselves once again as one of the NFL’s top teams, but the media spotlight, presumably tired of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, has turned to revivals in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New Orleans instead. As a result, New England is quietly gliding toward a ninth straight AFC East title in a way few people outside the Northeast care about.

Here at SB Nation, the Monday after Week 12 brought two Patriots hits up on the site’s NFL page: one on how the Steelers are handling their rivalry and another on Tom Brady’s bizarre postgame Instagram comics. ESPN focused on playoff crashers. Yahoo keyed in on disappointing turns from the Chiefs and Cowboys.

That may be the function of a relatively boring win over a bad Dolphins team, but in general the Patriots hype seems different in 2017. Thousands of words were spilled during the team’s 2-2 start in which the defense was historically bad. Now the franchise’s success has become so commonplace it struggles to qualify as front page news.

So if you’ve missed what is shaping up to be another typical Belichick season in Foxborough, here’s why the Patriots look like the Patriots once again.

Since Week 5, the Patriots have allowed only 13.1 points per game. That’s the lowest mark in the NFL in that span.

While that’s cherry-picking, it’s a showcase of the drastic improvement the club has made since its disappointing start. The uprising has started in the secondary, where Malcolm Butler, Stephon Gilmore, and Devin McCourty have returned to form. Better-than-expected contributions from players like Johnson Bademosi and Jonathan Jones have helped an overtaxed group snap back into form; after allowing 325 passing yards per game in their first six games, the Patriots have given up 205 per contest in their last five.

Opponents have been able to move the ball against New England, but that efficiency takes a major hit in the red zone. Opposing offenses have taken 20 drives inside the New England 20-yard line over the last seven games. They’ve come away with only 62 points in that span.

That defense is far from perfect. One major issue to watch is the team’s pass rush. The Patriots have a relatively weak front seven, especially when it comes to collapsing a quarterback’s pocket from the outside. The club has been thin at the edge all season and stopgap solutions like Cassius Marsh, who was cut last week, haven’t been the answer.

Players like Kyle Van Noy, Trey Flowers, Elandon Roberts, and Adam Butler have stepped up to offset the loss of teammates Dont’a Hightower (torn pectoral) and Shea McClellin (concussion). The question now is whether this relatively anonymous group of linemen and linebackers can keep this pace through the end of the season and into the playoffs.

Belichick hoped Mike Gillislee would be the latest Buffalo Bill to rise to new heights in Foxborough, but LeSean McCoy’s former backup has disappointed this fall. Despite his status as the team’s biggest back, his early-season struggles in key short-yardage situations were endemic of the team’s rocky start.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ unit has gotten a meaningful boost by turning away from the 2017 free agent acquisition. Gillislee has been a healthy scratch the past three weeks, watching his team’s victories from the sideline. On Sunday, New England got its best rushing performance of the season by a large margin by carving up the Dolphins for 196 yards, none of which came from the former Bill.

While the Patriots have been a pass-first team throughout the latter stages of the Brady experience, Dion Lewis, Rex Burkhead, and James White have proved to be the exact kind of versatile playmakers who can find the end zone on the ground or through the air. Lewis has evolved into the team’s top running back after Sunday’s career-high 112 yards (on only 15 carries). That role is a precarious one, however — just ask Jonas Gray, Brandon Bolden, or Shane Vereen.

Should he falter — or, more likely, succumb to injury, as Lewis hasn’t played a 16-game season in his NFL career — Burkhead (3.9 yards per carry) and White (4.0) have proved valuable as runners. The trio has combined for 817 yards and four rushing touchdowns this season while adding 83 receptions and six receiving touchdowns for the league’s top-ranked offense.

Their proficiency both on the ground and in the air creates headaches for opposing defenses, a condition exacerbated by the old man behind center.

Carson Wentz is receiving most of the MVP hype this fall, and he’s certainly a deserving candidate after rallying the Eagles toward the top seed in the NFC. However, a 40-year-old Brady has been the NFL’s best quarterback and the backbone of a 9-2 team. The Patriots quarterback currently leads the league’s qualified passers in:

Brady’s done this all despite rocky play from an offensive line that’s been ravaged by injuries. The Dolphins hit him on eight different occasions Sunday but were still unable to keep him from slinging four touchdown passes. The veteran’s sack rate has jumped significantly from 2016’s Super Bowl winning numbers back to 5.6 percent, but the increased pressure hasn’t affected his output. He’s throwing for more yards per game and has been more accurate than he was last season.

Brady continues to impress despite having his best-laid preseason plans smeared throughout the season. Receivers Julian Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell are on track to miss the entire 2017 season. Colts refugees Dwayne Allen and Phillip Dorsett have combined for just 11 catches. Rob Gronkowski hasn’t played at full strength, and Chris Hogan has missed time with a shoulder injury.

But New England has still fielded the league’s top passing offense behind an 80 percent Gronk, a tremendous connection with the newly acquired Brandin Cooks, a resurgent Danny Amendola, and the aforementioned tailbacks.

And they’re doing something we haven’t seen in more than 50 years:

The Patriots are scoring nearly 30 points per game behind Brady, who has looked as good as ever in his age-40 season. While his declining protection is reason for concern — especially with a looming matchup against a Steelers team ranked second in the NFL in sack rate — it’s tough to see the difference between 2017 and the other championship seasons that dot his late-career resume.

It is. The Patriots have been 9-2 or better in each of their last three seasons. They’ve had at least eight wins before Week 13 every year since 2009. Even that troublesome 2-2 start has its place in recent history; New England was 2-2 in 2014 before rallying to a Super Bowl title that February.

That bodes well for New England, but not nearly as well as an ascending secondary and the still-elite play of Brady. There may be more interesting storylines across the NFL than the Pats continued dominance, but all signs are pointing to another big season for the 2000s’ most successful franchise.

And if that’s the case, New England can be patient. Headlines in January and February are the most important ones, anyway.