POSTED 5:20 a.m. EDT, August 12, 2006
PFT PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS: NO. 6
We're down to a half-dozen teams. And the flak we took for dropping the Dolphins at No. 7 would have been 1000 times worse if we'd made Nick Saban's unit any higher than our No. 6 team.
The New England Patriots.
Yes, the gap between these two franchises has gotten that thin that quickly. The Fins have improved, the Pats have taken an inevitable dip toward the rest of a solid AFC field.
But the Pats will be within the top ten and hovering near the best five for as long as Tom Brady is playing.
If he's healthy.
And at a time when there is plenty of focus on the condition of quarterbacks like Donovan McNabb (hernia), Ben Roethlisberger (face), Carson Palmer (knee), and Daunte Culpepper (knee), it's been easy to forget that Brady had offseason surgery for a hernia of his own that was expertly concealed for most of the 2005 season.
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Can the Pats get back to the Super Bowl? Yes. Even with all of the injuries the Patriots suffered in 2005, they easily could have gotten past the Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs, and New England then would have hosted Pittsburgh for the AFC championship game.
With the tandem of coach Bill Belichick and V.P. of player personnel Scott Pioli still in place, and with Brady at the helm of the offense, the Pats will continue to be a Super Bowl threat in 2006, and in every other season in which those three guys are associated with the franchise.
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