6. New England Patriots
This is going to be a big stretch of games coming up for the New England Patriots.
Not that any stretch isn’t important, but let’s look at their next six games:
Vs. Packers
@ Lions
BYE
@ Chargers
Vs. Bills
Vs. Vikings
@ Chiefs
And at this point in time, it doesn’t look like the Patriots are going to have AJ Brown, at least for the time being. Not that he’s made the biggest impact, anyway.
This is going to be a stretch of games that really proves whether or not Drake Maye is a true MVP candidate in this league. Sunday’s game against the Packers will be a huge test on its own, and we’re really going to find out what the Patriots are made of.
They’ve already played a number of the league’s best teams already, and the gauntlet has only just begun.
5. Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the most explosive offenses in football, but even with some major improvements on the roster, the defense has still been a bit of a problem.
In fact, at times, it’s been a big problem.
The Bengals are still just the 29th-ranked 3rd-down defense in the NFL right now. They are 29th in yards per carry allowed on the ground. They are 27th in passing yards allowed and 27th in total yards allowed this season.
Thank goodness for this team forcing a bunch of turnovers this season, because they’d be in trouble without their takeaways.
When you have a quarterback playing as well as Joe Burrow has this season, you can overcome a lot of mistakes and roster deficiencies. Burrow has the Bengals atop the league in passing offense right now, but he’s been piling up numbers on bad teams over the last month.
The fact that the Bengals have struggled with teams like the Titans (just last week) and Dolphins is at least cause to raise an eyebrow. But Burrow is capable of leading this team deep in the postseason if he stays healthy.
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