The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I think you could argue that New England is the team to beat, after the way they handled the Texans.  Everyone else looks very beatable.

Patriots.  I hate those asshats.

They remind me of the Yankees and Bulls of the 90s.  Always finding that second wind late in the season

49ers

...with the option to revisit the question after this weekend's Patriots-49ers game. ;D

Anyone who doubts the Patriots in any game is crazy. They will always be the best team so long as Brady and Bellicheck are there.

Patriots

...with the option to revisit the question after this weekend's Patriots-49ers game. ;D

(this weeks game is huge)

I think the Patriots are beatable.  You need to win it up-front though.  Stop the run and pressure Brady.

Don't be fooled by the margins of victory.  They might beat the Jets by 100, doesn't make them the best team. 

I never bought into Houston either, FWIW.

I think Atlanta is going to make the playoffs very interesting.

Of course NE is beatable.  Every team is.  What I like about NE is that they are playing their best football right now.  In 2007 they were blowing out opponents in Sept/Oct, but in Nov/Dec barely squeaking by mediocre teams.  This year they are improving each week.  Big test this week against the 49rs. 

Atlanta has the best record in the NFL, but have only played one team that is +2 over .500 and that was week 2 before Denver and Peyton was hitting on on cylinders.  And have struggled against not so good teams.  This weeks test against Giants is huge.

Right now, I would say the two best teams in the NFC are 49rs and Packers.  The two best in the AFC are NE & Denver.  Even though in all odds none of them will be the one seed in their Conf. 

 

Brady is quietly going to win another MVP, IMO. It's unfair how good they are playing right now. I'd wager they would be a TD favorite against anyone in the AFC if the playoffs started now. With the way Atlanta got drubbed by Cam last week, I think they're one and done in the playoffs. -EK

I disagree.  I think Houston is a better team than San Fran, and they got by easily.

However, I think San Fran matches up better against NE than Houston does, because their strengths are in their defensive front-seven.  That's the formula.  It'll be interesting to see the Smith brothers attack Brady and see who wins that battle.

Houston is pretty nasty up front also. I'm not sure San Fran is all that much better overall.

Outside of JJ Watt, I don't see much up front that strikes fear into their opponents.  I may be talking crazy, though.  I admittedly don't know a ton about Houston's defense.

Been on New England's bandwagon for quite some time. Picked 'em for the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year, and I aint backni' down!  :D

There are four or five teams that could win on any given sunday, or saturday, but the Pats are picking up steam.

I really like Whitney Mercilus, and not just because "Mercilus" is an awesome name for a linebacker. I also like Johnathan Joseph in their D-backfield. Houston definitely has a solid defense, but...


...San Francisco's front seven is at least a notch or two better than Houston's, imo... but where SF really trumps Houston are the units that are facing those front sevens, the O-lines. San Francisco has easily the best O-line in the league (per both pro football focus and football outsiders rankings), and might have one of the best run-blocking lines "ever." If we're talking about trench warfare between Houston and San Francisco, SF wins going away.

Green Bay.

I'm gonna still say the 49'ers. They've had a couple of slip-ups to teams they should have beat, but I still think they have the most dominant team top to bottom. If NE beats the 49'ers then I'll switch my vote to NE.

2 weeks ago the 49ers lost to the Rams at home.

Best team in the league?

^^^ Yep...the question wasn't "which team is undefeated?" ;)

New England lost to Arizona at home.

Week 2. 

If the question isn't just has the best record, but who is playing the best right now, games from week 1 and 2 count a whole lot less than the last two games played. 

By one metric the rankings are Denver than right behind them NE with a long fall off to the Skins.  Denver has won 8 in a row, NE 7, and the Skins.  Far from a perfect metric cause it puts the Eagles ahead of the Texans.  But your record for the last 6 games says a lot more than your record for the first 7.

Denver and NE are both playing great football right now.  Both started off a bit rocky.  With Denver the answer is obvious -- Peyton needed to get on the same page with his recievers.  But NE as well has seen improvements in all aspects of its game. 

No question. There's also no question that Arizona appeared to be a much better team in week 2 then they do now, so I'm fully aware that it's not necessarily indicative of how good New England is. On the other hand, I consider St. Louis a MUCH better team than Arizona right now, so San Fran lost to a better team than did New England even if it was week 2. NE also lost to Seattle in Week 6 that SF beat in Week 7 so what does that tell you?

Depends on your schedule. Who has New England beat in the last 6 weeks? They beat Denver but that was week 5, so if week 2 doesn't count against them, then week 5 doesn't count for them. The fact is that NE has played a fairly soft schedule in the last couple weeks other than Houston. To their credit they've won easily, but I'm still not convinced they are better than SF.

Denver has also played a week schedule lately. They had PIT, ATL, NE and HOU on their schedule in the first 5 weeks, perhaps that had something to do with the rough start and had very little to do with Peyton needing to catch up? I know most of you don't give much credence to strength of schedule, you like to look at wins/losses, but I think you have to look at both. Usually looking at both things together is more indicative of level of play then just the win/loss column.

^^ I do agree with you SoS (who you played matters). 

Need to look at seveal things beyond record.

- who the team played.
- when (recent games count more)
- did they dominate in their wins/get dominated in their losses. If your losses are blow outs and your wins are razor close vs. your wins are blow outs and your losses are razor close.  I consider the Giants (26-3) loss more of a knock on the 49rs than the OT loss to the Rams. NE's win over the Texans more impressive than the win over the Fins in which the Dolphins kept it much more competive than I expected.
-injuries (if a couple of key player were out for injury in the losses and are back now that bodes well for your future, if you just recently lost some key players to IR that does't bode well)

I think you put a bit too much focus on SOS and not enough on the closeness/blowoutness of the wins and losses. 

Sunday night should be a great game to watch as the debate seems to center around NE and 49rs.