Mike Dussault

Patriots fans might as well write this off as another AFC East title-winning, playoff disappointment season now according to most of the chatter across the internet today.

We’ve got resident parade poo pooer Bert Breer on Gresh and Zo saying he “just doesn’t see it with this defense” and CSNNE’s Mike Giardi playing the playmaker card again:

It’s about playmakers. Packers got em defensively. Pats lacking. Best defender a DT, Wilfork. Love Carter but can/has been neutralized.

I’m not going to try and make a case that the Patriots defense is the ‘85 Bears or even the ’86 Bears, but I think it’s all about match ups in the playoffs and with Tom Brady it’s foolish to write a team’s Super Bowl hopes off in early December. We’ve seen plenty of flashes from this defense in 2011 that gives me far more belief they are capable of winning a pressure-packed playoff game than either of the past two seasons.

If the Pats were in the NFC there’s no doubt the odds would be higher for them get to the Super Bowl, but in the AFC there is not a team the Pats can’t beat. No question the Steelers will provide the biggest challenge, but let’s not forget how that game has turned out every time those two teams have met in the playoffs.

Regardless of who represents the NFC we’ve been down this road once before. The 2001 Patriots defense was a similarly disrespected crew of cast offs and never-have-beens and they shut down what was at that point one of the most unstoppable offenses ever seen.

And to Giardi’s point of it being about playmakers, how about we line up the 2001 Patriots offense with the 2001 Rams offense, and tell me who had more playmakers on that side of the ball. What matters is execution. The Patriots might not be favored against the Packers or Saints in the Super Bowl, but I’d bet neither team would relish the chance to face a Belichick coached team regardless of who the personnel is.

In a single game with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick I’ll take on any team in history and think we have a fighting chance. So the naysayers can continue to say  they “just don’t see it” but the naysayers just don’t see a lot of things. Championship teams don’t always fit into a perfect neat little box, where statistical dominance, playmakers and “peaking at the right time” coincide.

Football is the ultimate team sport, and I can guarantee that the 2011 Patriots will all be on the same page when January comes around. It will take a flawless game to beat them no matter how many passing yards you think you can rack up.

Like last year, this final quarter of the Patriots season will be all about maintaining pace and hopefully locking up the first overall seed in the AFC. The Pats are certainly in the drivers seat, and while games against the Broncos and Dolphins certainly look more interesting right now than they did a couple weeks ago, there’s no doubt if the Patriots play the way they’re capable of they should finishing 13-3 and have home field throughout.

A trip to NFL.com’s playoff picture page (one of the only pages on the NFL.com site that doesn’t send your computer into a state of stalled confusion) shows the current seedings as such:

1. Patriots
2. Texans
3. Ravens
4. Broncos
5. Steelers
6. Bengals

A finish like this would put the Steelers as the likely divisional opponent, something that isn’t exactly ideal, but the Pats might not really have an easy road no matter how it plays out. This is what looks likely to me at this point:

1. Patriots – duh.
2. Ravens – I’d rather the Steelers ended up here, but I just don’t see it happening so we’ll keep it realistic. They should go 4-0 the rest of the way.
3. Texans – They can run the ball and play defense, could be enough to get them past any of the 6 seeds.
4. Raiders – both Denver and Oakland should drop at least a couple games. I’m going with the Raiders here because I just think they’re a better all around team.
5. Steelers – at 49ers is a tough one, even if they can squeak it out they’ll still lose division on a tie breaker to Ravens.
6. Jets – I see the Bengals, Titans, and Raiders/Broncos all with two more losses and I only see the Jets with one. They sneak in yet again.

Unfortunately for the Pats this sets up a likely divisional matchup against the Steelers, Jets or Raiders. Of course the Raiders are a fine match up but the other two would be hotly contested battles.

The Jets would have their hands full stopping the Houston running attack and pass rush, I see them as a longer shot to pull off that upset than the Steelers over the Raiders.