How're the Pats in first?
 

wow... what're they? like 12-2? jeeeez.. who do they have?? troy brown and patten suck... (or avg) Tom Brady is only an avg QB... Smith is an avg back... defense is avg.... i see no stars...

Does this "team-work" "team-chemistry" BS really hold true?... I cant get excited watching this boring football team, where the best playmaker is the kicker... and as the Madden commercial said "Kickers will no speak until spoken to" :D

I refuse to believe that the Pat's are the best team in the AFC East... I still laugh when i think about the Super Bowl when they were introduced "as a team"... ugh... more like "no one would recognize ANYONE"

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!! :lol:

Brady may not be a great QB, but he is a great clutch QB. The receivers aren't Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, but their not Frank Sanders and Marcus Robinson either. They don't have a running game, but don't need it. Their D has had some major injury problems, not to mention it's leader getting cut right before the season, but has come up huge.

Don't worry though. In the AFC Championship game on the frozen tundra of Foxboro, they will run into the one team that is ideally made up for such a game: the Baltimore Ravens with the "You won't score 'cause I TOLD you so" defense and the best power running game in the league.

Coaching is so huge in the NFL. The Pats are a great example of this. You are right, they don't have a lot of 'star' players, but Belicheck gets the most out of each one of them. As for Brady, say what you will about him not being good, but look what matters more than TD's and yards, a career win-loss record of 30-12, a .714 winning percentage, including playoff games and a 1-0 record in Super Bowls.

Tom Brady has never lost and OT game, he very rarely makes mistakes in clutch moments.

There offense isn't anything flashy, but IMO they have one of the best (if not the best) defences in the league.

Is it just me, or would a Patriots/Eagles Super Bowl suck?

I personally didn't think they were that good before the season started, but I'm thinking they're the best in the AFC. But, we'll see in the Playoffs...

They just find a way to win, week in and week out.

How can argue with that?

Not for me, assuming it is a Philly win.

why are they so good...

two words for you.....Bill Belicheck

that guy is a unanimous coach of the year... as a dolphin fan... I know first hand... that snow bowl two weeks ago was miserable to watch

A team that wins close games consistently is well coached.

Yup. Belicheck has done a great job there and is definitely why they are where they are.

Especially with all the injuries they had in the beginning of the season.

omg that made my day


btw i think your worng about the ravens


go colts

Their defense is one of the top units in the league, (and I'm lucky enough to have them on my fantasy team.) Bill Belicheck should be the favorite for coach of the year IMO.

although i agree somewhat about the other comments, i think EVERY team needs some type of running game... and i dont think the pats are missing them... I'm just saying, they dont seem to be excellent in any one area... except coaching..

Patriots have the best defense and the best coach in football. and, when necessary, their offense can be pretty damn good too!

oh man~ dija see that 200th game? ,,, pitiful,,, Pennington is in the first slump of his career. 5 ints?.. jeez.. i hope Chad'll find his composure again.

Isn't that what "they" said about the Rams-Patriots Superbowl two years ago? And didn't "they" say that the Bucs-Raiders Superbowl was gonna be an instant classic, but then it sucked ass?

With that said, the Patriots are a damn good football team. The key to their team is the defense. The Pats have managed to keep a solid core of players on defense over the past 3 or 4 years: McGinest, Law, Bruschi, Phifer, Washington and Seymour. Then, they go out and get Rodney Harrison to solidify the secondary.

The other key to the Pats is Tom Brady. Brady is probably one of the most average quarterbacks in the league who can out play the most elite: Manning, McNair, etc. I see a lot of Joe Montana in him: a seemingly average QB who just finds a way to win no matter what. In fact, Joe's and Tom's stats are very similar in their first three seasons:

QB ratings:

Brady: 86.5, 85.7, 83.4
Montana: 87.8, 88.4, 88.0

TD to INT ratio:

Brady: 18-12, 28-14, 19-12
Montana: 15-9, 19-12, 17-11

Yards Completed:

Brady: 2843, 3764, 3416
Montana: 1795, 3565, 2613


I could go on, but I think the statistical point is made. However, the one big difference between the two players through three seasons is that Brady won the Superbowl in his first and Montana didn't until his 4th season.

Of course, time will always tell how one player's career goes in relation to another. Brady's down 4 to 1 to Montana in Superbowl wins and Superbowl MVP's 3 to 1. But, if the Pats win this year and Brady is the MVP, I think the comparison could definitely start be solidified.

I have to agree on this. Brady may not lead the league in any stats, but he wins games, and that's all that really matters.

o and make no mistake the pats have the best coach in the nfl

PATRIOTS are the best team in NFL. period

We'll see about that after the super bowl.:D

Don't dream crewsor, Titans are going to beat up ravens.

McNair needs to survive Boulware and Suggs first.

McAlister has shut down receivers many times better then Derrick Mason, and Baxter can handle whoever the other receiver who happens to be healthy is.

They can't go to Eddie George, because he still has the Ray Lewis Flu from 2001.

I think it will be close, 'cause the Titans' D can possibly shut down Jamal, but the Ravens live to upset teams, so they will win this game.

Apparently I'm not the only one giving the Ravens a shot against the Titans. Last I checked Ravens were favored by a point, which is rare for them in the playoffs.

The Pats are due for a loss and I don't expect to see them in the Super Bowl.

It amazes me how people discredit a team at the beginning of the season because they don't have a ton of great players. If one takes a look back at the 2003 NFL draft, the Patriots took a slew of players that have been huge parts of this season:

1st round:
Ty Warren, DL. Played in 13 games and helped solidify the defensive line, taking pressure off of Richard Seymour. 20 solo and 13 assisted tackles.

2nd round:
Eugene Wilson, CB. Played in all 16 games. 49 solo tackles and 4 INT.

3rd round:
Bethel Johnson, WR. Played in 15 games and ranked second in the entire NFL with a 28.2 kick return average.

4th round:
Dan Klecko, DT. Came off the bench and recorded 12 solo tackles.

The Patriots are proving, just like the Raiders in the opposite way, that good coaching and good scouting will beat a bunch of head cases, any day.

How often does a team get contributions the season following a draft with players from all four rounds? Not very often and that's what makes the Patriots a special team.