Bungles as good as Pats?

[Jackson 2]

As an outside observer, I'd say the Bengals are clearly better than the Patriots at this point in time.

Cincinnati has beaten Pittsburgh twice in two attempts. I'm not sure New England could do it once. All the Pats can do is beat up on lousy teams, while once again playing in the worst division in football.

As a Colts fan, come January I'd much rather face the soft, decrepit Patriots team than a young, hungry team like the Bengals.

Don't worry. If the preponderance of past history is any indication, you won't have to worry about it. January is generally golf time for the Dolts.

 

[mayoclinic]

As an outside observer, I'd say the Bengals are clearly better than the Patriots at this point in time.

Cincinnati has beaten Pittsburgh twice in two attempts. I'm not sure New England could do it once. All the Pats can do is beat up on lousy teams, while once again playing in the worst division in football.

As a Colts fan, come January I'd much rather face the soft, decrepit Patriots team than a young, hungry team like the Bengals.

I think it would have been prudent to at least wait until after this evening to make this kind of statement.

If the Colts beat the Pats then I think you have a bona fide argument that the Pats are a very good team that beats up on inferior teams but doesn't beat the top teams.

But if the Pats beat the Colts then I think you have to rank NE ahead of Cincinnati right now. NE and Cincinnati both beat Baltimore (Cincinnati twice) but lost narrowly to Denver. Both will be 7-2. NE has been more impressive in terms of offensive ranking, defensive ranking, and point differential. Obviously, 4 quality wins of Baltimore and Pittsburgh twice each count for a lot. So I would probably rank them equally.

Interestingly, if the Pats beat Indy then I think you can make a good argument that 7-2 NE and Cincinnati should both be ranked ahead of 8-1 Indy. Indy's 8 wins have come against 5-4 Jacksonville, 5-4 Houston, 3-6 Tennessee (less convincingly than NE beat them), 4-5 Miami (less convincingly than NE beat them), 1-8, St. Louis, 4-5 San Francisco, 3-6 or 4-5 Seattle, and 6-3 or 5-4 Arizona (with Seattle currently leading Arizona 14-0). None exactly world beaters. So if Indy loses I think you can make a good argument that their 8-1 record was compiled against average or below-average teams, and that they haven't yet proven they can beat a top team.

And 9-0 NO Orleans is looking increasingly like a fraud, barely escaping today against 1-8 St. Louis after having to pull out games in the 2nd half against 5-4 Atlanta, 4-5 Carolina and 4-5 Miami. And 8-1 Minnesota struggled to put away 1-8 Detroit today, and barely squeeked by Baltimore (who both Cincy and NE beat) on a missed 42 yard FG as time ran out.

So if NE beats Indy tonight I think you could make a reasonable argument that Cincinnati and NE should be considered the top 2 teams in the NFL right now.

You may be right about Cincy vs. the Pats. But I wouldn't jump the gun if I were you.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think it would have been prudent to at least wait until after this evening to make this kind of statement.

If the Colts beat the Pats then I think you have a bona fide argument that the Pats are a very good team that beats up on inferior teams but doesn't beat the top teams.

But if the Pats beat the Colts then I think you have to rank NE ahead of Cincinnati right now. NE and Cincinnati both beat Baltimore (Cincinnati twice) but lost narrowly to Denver. Both will be 7-2. NE has been more impressive in terms of offensive ranking, defensive ranking, and point differential. Obviously, 4 quality wins of Baltimore and Pittsburgh twice each count for a lot. So I would probably rank them equally.

Interestingly, if the Pats beat Indy then I think you can make a good argument that 7-2 NE and Cincinnati should both be ranked ahead of 8-1 Indy. Indy's 8 wins have come against 5-4 Jacksonville, 5-4 Houston, 3-6 Tennessee (less convincingly than NE beat them), 4-5 Miami (less convincingly than NE beat them), 1-8, St. Louis, 4-5 San Francisco, 3-6 or 4-5 Seattle, and 6-3 or 5-4 Arizona (with Seattle currently leading Arizona 14-0). None exactly world beaters. So if Indy loses I think you can make a good argument that their 8-1 record was compiled against average or below-average teams, and that they haven't yet proven they can beat a top team.

And 9-0 NO Orleans is looking increasingly like a fraud, barely escaping today against 1-8 St. Louis after having to pull out games in the 2nd half against 5-4 Atlanta, 4-5 Carolina and 4-5 Miami. And 8-1 Minnesota struggled to put away 1-8 Detroit today, and barely squeeked by Baltimore (who both Cincy and NE beat) on a missed 42 yard FG as time ran out.

So if NE beats Indy tonight I think you could make a reasonable argument that Cincinnati and NE should be considered the top 2 teams in the NFL right now.

You may be right about Cincy vs. the Pats. But I wouldn't jump the gun if I were you.

You're missing the point. He had to get it in now. If we beat the Colts, he won't be back here later on tonight. He'll "mysteriously" disappear like all the Dolphin fans did this past week.