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On the other hand
- The team's played almost no good offenses.
- The only good team it's faced ended up beating it (Pitt didn't have Big Ben playing).
- The defense spent half the year doing the BB trick of holding the points down while mostly playing like ****.
- The offense is clearly missing Gronk, and the OL still has issues, particularly on the interior.
- Edelman's not quite himself this season (not saying he's bad, but he's not been the full Julian)
- Bennett's been limited, and we don't know if that'll continue into the playoffs
- The LBs are clearly limited, and can be exploited
- There's not enough pass rush from individuals
- The team's won every game we could realistically have called a "definite win", and only lost 2 overall.
- Brady's still awesome.
- Floyd potentially gives them a mini-TE, of sorts, to help out, if they want to use him that way on occasion.
- The running game, while not elite, is much improved, and (knock on all the wood you can find) both Blount and Lewis remain healthy.
- If Amendola can return, the WR depth chart is much improved over last year.
- Flowers seems to be kicking it up a notch.
- The LBs seem to usually be ending up about where they're supposed to, which is a clear improvement from the start of the season.
- Brady's still awesome.
- BB's still the best coach in the game.
- The AFC is down, and the Patriots might only have to face one even remotely difficult game on the path to the SB.
- Gost seems to be back to form.
- HFA, baby!
- Did I mention that Brady's still awesome? Just in case: Brady's still awesome.
That places my confidence level at "very confident of the team getting to the SB (assuming health), but fully cognizant of the team's issues and questions, and with the realization that teams like Pitt and K.C. have the potential to pull off the upset".
Here's one to add:
The team still remaining in the playoff field that most recentlly knocked the Patriots out of the postseason is the NY Giants (2011).
It's comforting knowing the neither the Ravens nor the Broncos are out there lurking anymore.
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