Let's Not Bury the Patriots Just Yet

The front page of espn.com this morning.

Last week I wrote about the Pats loss to Seattle without hearing what anybody else had to say first. This week I'm taking the opposite rout.  For a team that won yesterday, they are dealing with a lot of bad press today.  Not to mention the fact that they have the 3rd best record in their conference, and sit all alone in 1st place atop the AFC East.  I'm sure many of the criticisms are true, but we should also keep in mind that New England is just 3 plays and 4 points away from being 7-0.

Now I'm not saying the Pats should be undefeated, I'm just pointing out that in the NFL there is a very slim difference between greatness and mediocrity.  Case in point: Last year the New York Giants were 6-6 in early December.  My sources tell me they won the Superbowl.  The year before that, through 7 games the eventual champion Green Bay Packers were 4-3, exactly what the Patriots are now.  Both of those teams entered the playoffs as the #6 (and last) seed in the NFC.  As long as you're still in the hunt, it doesn't matter how good you are now, just how well you play in late December and January.

I watched the game yesterday afternoon at one of the bars down by North Station.  The second Mark Sanchez's fumble was officially ruled a fumble, I ran out the door and across the street to the Garden for the Celtics final preseason tune up.  You can read my post about their new "big" lineup at CelticsLife.com.

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