Mike Dussault

The fact that I was never really worried about the Bears this week concerned me slightly. If you look at history the Patriots traditionally own the NFC lately, and despite the short week, snow and wind I still felt pretty sure the Patriots would win the game.

And they did. In a convincing matter. These 2010 Patriots are certainly playing their best football of the year just as the game start to matter most. If you’ve been a Patriots fan for longer than three years you might find yourself having a lower level of enthusiasm about regular season wins. That’s what happens when you go 16-0 yet lose the last game.

This was a huge win, especially when coupled with the Jets loss. The Patriots are now within striking distance of the number one overall seed in the AFC. With the way they’ve been playing lately they’re as close to unstoppable as any football team I’ve seen in a while.

The ‘07 Pats peaked too soon, but this group seems to be hitting their stride exactly at the right time. But there is still much football to be played, and improvement to be made, that will hopefully culminate in early February. That’s still more than two months away.

So for now just some quick hit thoughts…

– Biggest concern is absolutely the status of Devin McCourty. He’s really been the spark in the secondary, and his loss would be a tough one to overcome. Luckily there is time for him to get healthy. Well, maybe an extra week considering Aaron Rodgers will likely be out next weekend.

– Who would’ve thought we’d see new pickup Moore making some noise with his pass rush? Can’t wait to see what they’ll do with him in normal conditions. From Mike Reiss:

The five-year veteran played in his first game as a Patriot and recorded four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. 

“I’m excited and thankful that God gave me the opportunity to go out there and play, and thankful to Coach Belichick for bringing me in,” Moore said in an upbeat Patriots locker room. “It’s great, with all the guys embracing me and helping me out, learning this defense." 

– Whe McCourty went out it was Patrick Chung who was moved to outside corner. Now more than ever the Patriots will need Jonathan Wilhite back.

– Remember when people we’re convinced the Pats were dead in the water without a Julius Peppers-type acquisition?

– Give it up for Shayne Graham, Zoltan Mesko and the long snapper. Just one missed XP? I’ll take it.

– I saw the Jets losing the to Dolphins from a mile away.

– In the AFC contender/pretender game today Jacksonville proved they were better than the Raiders.

– Tom Brady is playing at a level that hasn’t been seen since mid-season 2007.

– Who’d have thought Branch and Welker would be this deadly together? 

– I think they’re just keeping Fred Taylor fresh in case he has to go. Benny’s getting the bulk of the carries from here on out. We won’t see much out of Fred unless we have to.

– Funny, we’re not hearing much about how horrible Bill O’Brien is anymore, are we? Remember when it was all on "play calling”? 

– The defensive stat numbers should continue a positive trend this week. Everyone was writing the Patriots off before they killed the Jets because of their pass defense, but they’ve really come together in the last two weeks. This must continue. If they’re going to regress in a game better to get it out of the way in the next three weeks and not in the playoffs.

– Playoffs. We all want the bye, but let’s just take a moment and appreciate what we’ve seen this year. A young defense come of age and a quarterback playing absolutely out of his mind. Let’s not  forget an epic coaching job by Bill Belichick and staff.