Colin Cowherd is high on the Patriots, but he isn’t completely sold on them quite yet.
It’s tough to fully assess New England through five weeks of action. The reigning Super Bowl champions currently are undefeated largely thanks to their tremendous defense, but the Patriots have greatly benefited from a breeze of an early season schedule. Three of New England’s five wins came against teams still in search of their first victory.
Still, the Patriots own the top spot in Cowherd’s latest NFL power rankings. That said, “The Herd” host does harvest a few concerns about Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Co.
“Best coach in football is Bill Belichick. They have the best secondary I think I’ve seen in my life. It’s not the best defense, Buffalo is. They’ve played a bunch of bad offenses, but this is kind of New England,” Cowherd said Tuesday on FOX Sports 1. “Last week, they found their running game. Now, maybe that’s Washington, but I’ve got Brady, Belichick, they found a running game. They’re not a dominant No. 1. I don’t think they could go to New Orleans and win. I don’t think they could go to Lambeau right now, or Philadelphia and win. The offensive line is a work in progress and the wide receiver situation is, I mean, they’re making it work. They’ve got a guy on IR. For the record, Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) just signed with FOX Sports I read this morning, so he’s not coming back. He’s working here, so they better figure out the tight end spot as well. But New England, right now, is No. 1.”
Barring an exceptional performance from another top team in Week 6, the Patriots likely will remain atop the next Herd Hierarchy. New England on Thursday will welcome the New York Giants to Gillette Stadium for a primetime showdown, and it’s tough to imagine the Pats having any difficulty with the hobbled G-Men, who likely will be without Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram. And looking ahead to Week 7, New England should have no trouble taking care of business against the lowly New York Jets.
As such, we might have to wait some time before we find out if the Patriots are “for real.” A stretch of games from mid November to early December — which includes matchups against the Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs — should serve as a good indicator.
