00:00So now the Patriots have the best record in the NFL. They're 11-2, and in a broader sense, Mark, a lot of things I read yesterday, you know, everybody has to have power rankings after every week.
00:11A lot of them have the Patriots as the best team in the NFL, and a lot of people have Drake May as the best quarterback in the league as well.
00:19First of all, do you agree with that? Second of all, what do you think this team is capable of in the playoffs?
00:24I'm there. You know, I've been sort of on the cusp all season.
00:30Like, yeah, you know, their strength of schedule is the easiest in the NFL and all this, and Drake, yeah, he's up there in passing and all that stuff, but he hasn't had a bye week.
00:38But I think at this point, it's really hard to deny. I mean, the combination of Mike Vrabel and Drake May looks pretty elite, and that's what matters at this time.
00:48You know, even like looking at the power rankings, like, all right, what teams scare you? And for me, it'd be what teams have better quarterbacks than you?
00:54What teams have more experienced head coaches? It's the reason why I wouldn't want to see the Chiefs in the playoff just because of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.
01:01But yeah, I think Drake May is, he's looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the league already at age 23.
01:08I think the only young quarterbacks who started last weekend were J.J. McCarthy. No, J.J. McCarthy.
01:14The kid from New Hampshire, probably.
01:16Yeah, Brosner.
01:17And look out for him.
01:18Yeah, Jackson Dart. Jackson Dart's one of the, it's like, I'm going to say, Drake started the year as the second youngest quarterback behind J.J. McCarthy.
01:25And then Jackson Dart was another guy who was younger than him.
01:27So, like, I'm just saying, the fact that he's that young and he's doing what he is already certainly makes me, and it should make everyone else a believer.
01:34And in terms of the strength of schedule, I'll just say this, yeah, the Pats have the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL, but No. 2 easiest is the Chicago Bears, who have the No. 1 seed.
01:43And No. 3 easiest is the 10-2 Denver Broncos.
01:46I mean, I don't know what the correlation is there, other than those teams are all playing really well and they're beating up, you know, teams in their schedule.
01:52Yeah, Chicago and Denver finish up very difficult.
01:55Are you?
01:56But the Patriots have a couple difficult games, even though I don't love the Ravens.
01:59I don't think the Ravens are that great a team, but what are you going to do?
02:02Mark, I think it's interesting where you mentioned, like, you still don't want to face Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes because of, or the Chiefs, because of Reid Mahomes.
02:10And I tend to be with you on that, but is that ebbing a little bit just based on the way the rest of the team has played?
02:17Because as good as Mahomes is, and as much respect as you might have for Andy Reid, it's looking like it's just not enough for them this season.
02:26Yeah, yeah, it's true.
02:28It's looking like the, you know, the end of the Chiefs dynasty a little bit.
02:31And, you know, so I hear you.
02:34I think, like, again, the last team I'd want to face at Gillette Stadium come, you know, whatever it is, divisional rounds.
02:40But the fact that they are losing to, you know, the teams they're losing to, you know, they lose to the Bills, who you beat.
02:46They lost earlier in the season, but even, you know, losing to the Cowboys, who have sort of been inconsistent this year.
02:51It's, yeah.
02:53So there's not, like, a dominant team in the NFL, which I think should give everyone some hope with the Patriots and their potential playoff run.
02:59Because, I mean, a week ago, it was the Rams, right?
03:02The Rams are the number one team.
03:03They're dominant.
03:04And then they lose to the Panthers, who look better than I think a lot of people thought they were.
03:08So just a lot of parity in the NFL.
03:10I don't think there are many dominant teams.
03:12And even, like, in the AFC, it's like, I don't know, I'm not necessarily afraid of Bo Nix or Daniel Jones.
03:18And I think all that stuff is, you know, it's good news for the Patriots, who have a team that's incredibly close.
03:23And these guys believe in each other, and sometimes these, like, close-knit groups who are playing well, you know, good things happen.
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