"The Patriots [are a] contender, not just for playoffs, but deeper than that"

[sb1]

The Bills are the #2 scoring offense and Colts #5 and they have arguably the best running back in the league right now. The Bills haven't played a lot of great teams but the Colts have.

Will be a good test for our defense. I wouldn't expect a repeat of the Falcons game.

I also think the next 4 games will be Mac's opportunity to take the OROY award if he wants it.

 

[Mack Herron]

I also think the next 4 games will be Mac's opportunity to take the OROY award if he wants it.

A lots riding on the next 4 games. Lose a few and this bubble bursts. Win a few and the accolades pour in.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Colts game might end up being the toughest one.

 

[Sicilian]

Colts game might end up being the toughest one.

It's a league that can change week to week, but the Colts are definitely trending up while the Titans and Bills are trending down. Again, as of 11/23.

 

[n1997y]

Rookie QBs don't win championships cause they can't come up big in big moments like even 2nd year guys can.

Rookie QBs don’t win championships because good rookie QBs are on bad teams. Good rookie QBs are taken atbthevtop of the draft. Teams drafting at the top are either bad enough to slot high in the draft, or burned lots of draft capital to trade up to the top of the draft so they are hampered drafting complementary players. How rare is it to see a rookie QB and a rookie RB and a rookie DL from the same team in a list of five best rookies? Rookie QBs can’t come up big in big moments because the supporting cast around them isn’t up to it.

There just might be an exception to all those generalizations this year.

 

[sb1]

This was Big Ben's rookie season when he made the AFCCG. Numbers don't look that much different than Mac's.....

 

[Sicilian]

This was Big Ben's rookie season when he made the AFCCG. Numbers don't look that much different than Mac's.....

Yup, and Mac wouldn't have to go through Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to win the AFC. And I think all bets are off once you get TO the Super Bowl. That's one (bonkers) game where anything can happen.

 

[Biffins]

We are the best team and the most consistent one for the last month in the NFL. My only concern is that we peaked too early. I hope the bye doesn’t kill our momentum. If they can keep that level of play for 6 weeks and in the playoffs it will impressive.

We were 2-4!! If we didn’t start peaking/performing there won’t be any playoffs to peak towards!!!

 

[Biffins]

Fraid not. The ceiling is too low on this team. Even if the Patriots are the most consistent playoff team, they will have possibly the lowest ceiling of any team they face.

Dude, we’re performing because of our rookies, sophomores and Free Agents new to the team. How the hell is the ceiling low. If we had a bust rookie class and were being dragged along by our vets I would agree that there’s little upside. The reality is the exact opposite!!

We have huge upside!! What are you talking about. Almost all key players have great upside!!

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

We are the best team and the most consistent one for the last month in the NFL. My only concern is that we peaked too early. I hope the bye doesn’t kill our momentum. If they can keep that level of play for 6 weeks and in the playoffs it will impressive.

i feel like we are far from peaking. The defense yes, they cannot possibly play any better than they have the last few weeks. But we are still pretty inconsistent on offense and lots of room for improvement there.

 

[Mack Herron]

Not sure where this goes so I’m just gonna drop it here:

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Not sure where this goes so I’m just gonna drop it here:

how about post-TB12 ?

 

[captain stone]

Not sure where this goes so I’m just gonna drop it here:

The former Deadskins' -990 looks to be approx. a FG per game, every game, for 20 years... strangely, only 9 of which were double-digit-loss seasons...

 

[n1997y]

Fraid not. The ceiling is too low on this team. Even if the Patriots are the most consistent playoff team, they will have possibly the lowest ceiling of any team they face.

“Ceiling” is such a prejudicial pejorative. I hate it. It’s intellectually dishonest. It pre-judges maximum possible performance based on projected perceptions and assumptions. It disrespects the intangibles and dismisses the potential for a motivated hard-working player to improve and overcome physical limitations. For example, the ceiling of a slow weak armed unathletic QB prospect must be low if they were taken as draft selection 199, right? That example alone should be enough to invalidate the whole idea that “ceiling” can be determined at all.