New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots could take over sole possession of first place atop the NFL standings with a win over the New York Jets on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 11.
If the Patriots win, the Denver Broncos will get their chance on Sunday to match New England at 9-2 entering Week 12, while the Indianapolis Colts are on their bye week.
Mike Jones of The Athletic wrote on Thursday morning, however, that he believes the Patriots are the only one of the three top teams that are true “contenders.”
“Perhaps no one outside of the Patriots organization could have anticipated this kind of success, but Mike Vrabel’s team finds itself holding a share of the best record in the AFC with less than two months left in the regular season. The Patriots are young, and their roster still has some weak spots, but New England is a legit playoff team capable of going toe-to-toe with any squad,” Jones said. “Exceptional play from Drake Maye has been key, along with a balanced offensive approach, a stingy defense (fifth-best on third downs while also allowing just 19.2 points per game) and impactful contributions on special teams. They already have quality wins against perennial playoff teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will postseason inexperience limit them at all?”
The national NFL writer said that not only are Denver and Indianapolis “pretenders,” while New England is a contender, but the Patriots are one of just three “contenders” in the AFC.
Jones said the Baltimore Ravens (4-5) and Kansas City Chiefs (5-4) are the other “contenders” in the conference, while the Los Angeles Chargers (7-3), Buffalo Bills (6-3), Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4) and Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4) join the Broncos and Colts as AFC “pretenders.”
He opined that the Chiefs “remain one of the most well-rounded, battle-tested squads with all of their goals still within reach” and Baltimore “appears to have finally found itself after a tumultuous start to the season.”
New England’s two biggest wins of the season have come on the road against Buffalo (Week 5) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 10).
As he did with the Bills, Jones surprisingly listed the Buccaneers (6-3) as a pretender.
The Patriots’ next big test comes in their Week 15 rematch against Buffalo.
