In just over the span of a month, the Patriots have shifted from pretender to contender.
New England owned a 2-4 record after Week 6 and the thought of reaching the postseason felt like a pipe dream for the Patriots. But Bill Belichick's team ripped off five consecutive wins after its overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and it now owns first place in the AFC East.
Coinciding with New England's surge has been the other top teams in the conference trending in the opposite direction. The Buffalo Bills no longer look like a juggernaut and the Tennessee Titans simply are a different team without Derrick Henry. The two-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs also have been inconsistent.
So, with all that said, are the Patriots the AFC's best team as we head into Week 12? ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano believes we should put a pin in that take for now.
From Graziano's column published Monday morning:
By the time this is all over, I don't think anyone would be shocked if Belichick's team had the only bye in the AFC playoffs. But I also don't think the Patriots are going to win every game the rest of the way. I know they don't look great right now, but the Bills still factor into this conversation. They still have one of their games against the Jets left, while the Patriots have played both of theirs.
The two head-to-head games still remaining between Buffalo and New England will go a long way toward deciding the AFC East, and possibly even the No. 1 seed. Tennessee could very well rebound from this week's hiccup and reset the balance of power with a win next week. And Kansas City doesn't look as if it's out of this conversation yet either.
After next week's home game against the Titans, New England has a Monday night road game in Buffalo, a bye week, a road game in Indianapolis and a home game against Buffalo. It is set up well for the defining month of the season, but the definition remains unclear until it gets through that gauntlet. Let's circle back on this in a month and see how it's going. Until then, it's an overreaction.
The stretch of games Graziano mentions is pretty daunting, to say the least. Perhaps that's why Belichick offered a subdued reaction to the Patriots claiming the top spot in the division.
