The New England Patriots arguably have the greatest quarterback and tight end of all time on offense, but that doesn’t mean they have the best triplets in the NFL.
Or so says ESPN staff writer Bill Barnwell, who ranked all 32 NFL teams based on their top three offensive playmakers. The Patriots’ triplets of Brady, Gronk and Julian Edelman are the second best in the league, according to Barnwell’s rankings. The only team ahead of New England is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ trio of Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.
Barnwell gives a few reasons for picking the Steelers over the Patriots, the first of which is the importance of having a “dominant wide receiver” outweighs a “transcendent tight end.” And while Barnwell says wide receivers are more important than running backs, Bell’s value and ceiling give him the edge over Edelman.
By no means is Barnwell saying Roethlisberger is better than Brady, and he even says he’s willing to give the Patriots the edge at quarterback, but Bell and Brown are the reasons why the Steelers earned the top spot and the Patriots finished a very close second.
The Green Bay Packers earned the No. 3 spot, and they were followed by the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints, respectively, to round out the top 10.
The Cleveland Browns, to no one’s surprise, finished dead last.
Click to see ESPN’s ranking of offensive triplets >>
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
