Bart Scott rarely misses an opportunity to criticize the New England Patriots.
But on the latest edition of ESPN's "Get Up," the NFL linebacker-turned-analyst was singing a different tune about Bill Belichick's team.
Power ranking the AFC is not an easy task these days, as over 50% of the conference currently has exactly five wins. One of those teams is the Patriots, who Scott believes is the AFC's fifth-best club.
"Listen, I just call balls and strikes, right? There's no hate. It's never personal with me," Scott said. "No. 5, I'm going with Mac n' Cheese (Mac Jones), man. Yeah, I'm a walking contradiction. I know it. I can't lie to myself. I have to believe in the brand and I believe in Bill Belichick. I believe in this defense, but also, I believe in this team's ability to not hurt themselves. You look at most teams, they end up losing games and not winning them and Bill's always been a beneficiary of that. So, listen: I don't hate you, New England. Don't at me, Providence. Don't slide in my DMs. I don't care. I don't check them anyway. I don't care about social media."
After largely playing uncharacteristically sloppy football over the first six weeks of the 2021 season, the Patriots have cleaned up their act of late. Fundamentally sound football paved the way for a three-game win streak, and New England now is a legitimate threat to reach the playoffs.
The Patriots will try to take another step forward Sunday when they host the 5-4 Cleveland Browns.
