No doubt about it, Patriots the top team in the AFC – Sports – The Boston Globe

The Patriots should be able to beat all comers in the AFC. There should be no excuses if the Patriots fail to make the Super Bowl. But if they do fall, it may be because the lack of a bye kept the Patriots from using one of their biggest weapons: the turbo no-huddle attack. We saw it extensively in the Week 5 victory over the Broncos, and then the Patriots kept it tucked away until they got down big and unleashed it against the 49ers last Sunday night. “That was impressive,” said an NFC general manager. “You saw the Broncos game, heard about the Chip Kelly stuff and you knew they had it in their arsenal, but you weren’t really sure if it was fluky or not. “It’s definitely not a fluke. Did you see what it did to the 49ers? They were completely gassed on defense. They had to take [Aldon] Smith, [Ahmad] Brooks, and [Ray] McDonald off the field for rest more than they normally do in a close game. And the 49ers got zero pressure on [Tom] Brady during the comeback. Same thing happened to the Broncos, when they were able to keep Von Miller on the sidelines at times. How are you going to beat Brady without making him feel pressure?”