10. New England Patriots
Recap: Are the New England Patriots finished? I mean, Tom Brady looked like he was dealing with a case of the Peyton Manning arm and the Patriots looked slow and lacking confidence.
The Patriots haven’t scored more than 20 points in their last four games and they look like a team that has to win with bad QB play and a defense that is getting older by the second.
Credit to the Texans, but the biggest takeaway from that game is that if Tom Brady hits free agency next year like the rumors say, it may actually lead to one of the most embarrassing years of his career as he works with a new team that doesn’t know him as well as Bill B and company.
Outlook: Forget the #1 seed or the Super Bowl, this team needs to figure out how they are going to win a game this post season.
While the fear was that the Titans might make a move for Tom Brady after the season, Patriots fans need to be more concerned with how they could get Ryan Tannehill in the building.
I am joking (kinda) but the fact remains that I wouldn’t call the Patriots an above average offense and even calling them average feels like a slap in the face of average teams.
9. Buffalo Bills
Recap: The Bills are such a weird team because they have kind of turned all the preseason narratives on their heads. Specifically, Josh Allen looks like a legit franchise QB after being bad for the first month or so of the season.
Combine that with a surprisingly good offensive line and a defense that is playing up to the investments that they have made and all the sudden you start to realize why they have been able to win so many games.
Outlook: Having said all of that positive stuff, I could easily see them walking into the first round of the playoffs and losing like they did a few years ago when Jacksonville went in and beat them in a low scoring game.
I don’t know if Frank Gore will hold up into the postseason and I have concerns about Josh Allen when teams are cracked up to 11 and trying to get him to revert back to what he used to be.
Still, I could see the Bills winning the AFC East which feels insane to actually say. Kudos to you Buffalo.