Top 10 Defense for sure. And by Top 10, I’m talking DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency rankings. I think there is something to be said for the amount of yards given up, but it doesn’t make sense to make that the king of defense rankings.
So last year the Pats were 15th in DVOA last year, after being 30th in 2011. That’s a significant improvement, and with the continuity and additions of Adrian Wilson and Tommy Kelly, I don’t see why they couldn’t elevate five more spots.
Offensively they haven’t been below 7th in DVOA since 2003 (14th) and 2001 (11th). Even with Matt Cassel in 2008 they were 7th.
The O-line and Brady are too good drop in the bottom half of the NFL regardless of who the new wide receivers are. Everyone loves to bring up the wide receivers of 2006, well the offense was 4th in the NFL that season.