Claiming the New England Patriots have been the best team in football through three weeks wouldn’t be a stretch by any means.
Nick Wright, however, doesn’t see it that way.
The Patriots head into Week 4 with a perfect 3-0 record and have looked dominant on both sides of the ball. New England’s defense has yet to allow a touchdown, while Tom Brady already has racked up seven passing scores to no interceptions.
Wright has liked what he’s seen thus far from the reigning Super Bowl champions, but he believes strength of schedule should be considered while ranking the league’s top teams. As such, New England currently owns the No. 3 spot on Wright’s list.
“The only critique on the New England Patriots is the caliber of competition,” Wright said Thursday on FS1’s “First Things First.” “Defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown, Tom Brady’s playing great. Sony Michel hasn’t been the guy you hoped he would be and there have been injuries, but those two teams (Patriots and Dallas Cowboys) if they had played better competition, you’d have them higher on the list.”
.@getnickwright lists the 8 best teams in the NFL:
1. Chiefs
2.Packers
3. Patriots
4. Cowboys
5. Rams
6. Ravens
7. Bears
8. Bills pic.twitter.com/yPwGL76IJB— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) September 26, 2019
Wright has been more impressed with the Chiefs’ and Packers’ trio of victories, which is reflected in the teams earning the No. 1 and 2 slots, respectively, on his list.
“Why are the Packers ahead of the Patriots and Cowboys? ‘Cause the Packers’ 3-0 has come against Chicago and Minnesota as two of those wins,” Wright said. “Two teams that are 4-0 in games where they’re not playing the Green Bay Packers.”
Wright continued: “And of course, the No. 1 team in the NFL, because they have the best player in the NFL, they have an offense that no one can catch up with: the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. They hung 40 on the Jags, they hung 33 on Baltimore, two great defenses. They’ve played two games on the road. Mahomes is about to play his first career game in a dome. Probably light ’em (Detroit Lions) up for about 500 this weekend. No. 1 team in football, the Chiefs.”
The Patriots’ relative cakewalk will end Sunday when they travel to Buffalo for a matchup with the Bills. Should New England hand its AFC East division rival their first loss of the campaign, Wright might have no choice other than to vault Bill Belichick’s team up the rankings.
