Seems to me like there's a lot of cherry-picking on both sides, and inconsistency in the relative value of stats (in the overall argument, though perhaps not by the same person.)
I also think there's a lot of over-valuing of past players for being part of Super Bowl winning teams -- a mistake that lead many NFL GMs to regret over-paying role-players who never amounted to much outside the Patriots organization. Also, many of us are judging players in hindsight based on who they would become, rather than who they were then.
Hell, in 2001 our quarterback was a QB playing in the 15th game in his career, and our left tackle was a rookie considered a reach in the 2nd round, whom half of Patriots fans thought should be benched in favor of Drew Bledsoe.
In 2003, we had rookie Eugene Wilson at free safety, and a hobbled 35 year-old journeyman Roman Phifer. David Patten was on his 3rd team in as many years, and had never caught more than 38 passes in his career.
In 2004, we lost starting corners Ty Law and Tyrone Pooke, and replaced them with Asante Samuel, a 2nd year player projected spend his career in the slot, and Randal Gay, an undrafted rookie. Earthwind Moreland, Je'Rod Cherry and Hank Poteat were playing meaningful snaps in the post-season. Our right tackles was perennial turnstile Brandon Gorin.
Finally, the fact that we know how things turned out makes us forget details and skew our perceptions. Games were lower scoring, and passing numbers a whole lot less gaudy, making our defenses seem better than, and the 2001 Rams seem less impressive than the 2013 Broncos.
Also in 2001, the Rams had a top-ranked defense in addition to their record-setting offense, and in the AFC championship game, the Patriots had just barely eked out a controversial win thanks to the then-unheard of "tuck rule" and two long field-goals in the snow.
In 2003, we had the 30th ranked running game in yards per carry. Our passing game was derided as "dink n' dunk."
In 2004, with our 2ndary shredded over the course of the season, we were considered far bigger underdogs to Manning's offensive-record-setting Colts than we are to Manning's Broncos this year, and in the AFC Championship, we were playing a 17-1 team that had blown us out in the regular season.
So yeah, I don't think it's at all crazy to compare this team favorably to any of our SB teams. There are a lot of reasons to think that, should it go on to win the super bowl, and should our young players turn out to be future stars, it will look even rosier in hindsight.