With that win, the Patriots have now put themselves in the conversation as being the greatest team ever in National Football League history. They deserve to be No. 2 right now. Based on ELO, Carolina is the sixth best team, have a 95% chance at the playoffs, and a 10% chance to win the Super Bowl. Not only have they finished a sixteen game regular season undefeated, but they have also embarked on a revenge tour after the offseason deflategate controversy. Only 32 tickets were left on StubHub for Sunday night’s Broncos-Packers game, but these are the Patriots.
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Since moving from No. 2 to No. 1 in ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings entering the second week of the season, the New England Patriots haven’t budged. Watching this dynamic young defense trying to stop Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley this weekend, should be quite entertaining. The offensive line and receivers have been as steady as can be.
And the defense has more than held its own, which might be all the Packers need. Of course, a win over Pittsburgh on Sunday would mean a 3½-game lead in the division, and the Bengals already have established solid credentials in all areas.
The Carolina Panthers knocked off the Indianapolis Colts in a 26-23 overtime thriller on Monday Night Football, capping off another exciting week of NFL action. That said, they’re also the most inspiring of the bunch.
Cincy could be the biggest surprise of the year.
Manning dropped 500 yards of offense and 29 points against the NFL’s top scoring defense.
As I just mentioned above, the Packers are a clearly flawed team that is great because of Aaron Rodgers, and maybe only because of him. The other two teams who are undefeated are the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals.
If Denver can survive this gauntlet, they’ll be in ideal position to make a Super Bowl run.
Barring a wave of injuries, folks in New England, Wisconsin and Colorado, Cincinnati and Charlotte can begin budgeting for playoff tickets. Sure, the Vikings are an impressive 5-2 so far, but the quarterback play has been inconsistent.
The Falcons really do seem like fool’s gold. Yes, they’ve had a good start, but in the last three weeks, they’ve lost by 10 to the New Orleans Saints; won by just three against a Tennessee Titans team that had Zach Mettenberger as the starting quarterback; and lost by three to a bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad.
Still executing well on both sides of the ball. They’ve been able to run it down their opponent’s throat the past few weeks with rookie sensation Todd Gurley, winning three of the last four games with him as the starter.
It looks like the teams that stand in their way are the New York Giants, The undefeated Denver Broncos and a tough game in New Jersey against the New York Jets. Injuries come in random bunches. It is unlikely Cincy will win out but making the playoffs, and hopefully winning a game should be enough.
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Now who knows? Maybe that will change. There is little precedence for so many teams lasting so long before losing.
