Pats definitely are in the conversation. And the qualifiers were "I think," "may be" and "right now." All very subjective and subject to change. Come next Monday, I may have a totally different take on who's the best.
That said, Vick gets my vote for MVP unless he has a disastrous final 7 weeks.

Man it is GREAT to be able to POST! The weeks and weeks long "HTTP ERROR 504" nightmare that kept me from participating as a poster-is-HOPEFULLY,A THING OF THE PAST! RE: The Patriots-early in the season a few here predicted a Pats collapse. I stated that I thought they were on their way to an 11-5 season. Looking forward to NE-Indy Sunday afternoon! Usually a cracklin good game!

One of the pre-season sports shows asked the question: Who's the sleeping giant of the NFL? Which traditional powerhouse that has slipped over the last few seasons is a team to look out for? Of those mentioned, the Patriots were my pick. I just had a feeling they, more so than the other teams mentioned, would get things in order and compete for a championship.

Could it be the Raiders? Could it be the Steelers? The Patriots were in the play offs last year. It can't be so obvious!

In the context of the conversation, those teams weren't even mentioned. Certainly the Raiders are one of the season's big surprises. The Steelers were expected to do well and weren't considered "sleeping."
Maybe the Patriots shouldn't have been. They're a good team. But between the love affair with the Jets, the consensus that the Patriots defense wasn't good enough, and the general expectation that the Jets, Steelers, Ravens, Colts and Chargers would be the class of the AFC, the Patriots were talked about as the contender that everybody forgot.

Many preseason experts/magazines/prognosticators spoke of the Pats being in decline due to age/loss of key players ond both D and O. When NE had a hiccup or three in the first 3 or 4 games, we heard a bit more of that, but to me, they looked very close to gelling-and they have. Conversely, Minnesotta has been IN, been competitive in every one of their games-but has not made that 10 percent extra effort to leap from a just avg team to a good/very tough team. Plus-last year ALL the bounces went their way. This year, the opposite seems true, As a TEAM, they have yet to gell, and I would be surprised, now if they did. They have to win out, and nothing thus far indicates they have the guts to do so. Favre-despite his up and down season and injuries to foot, elbow, shoulder, looks like he still brings it when passing and his enthusiasm is amazing during the games. You can tell he still has that adrenalin rush. I am not so sure about other players. I think the coach has been a negative.

Yeah, Paul, that was the gist of the conversation. In all the hype about the Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, Colts, Steelers, who was being overlooked? These talkers mentioned the Patriots decline, but said they're still a very good football team that shouldn't be dismissed. The Giants were also mentioned, if only because they seem to have it through the first half of last season, then squandered their good position. Which team would bounce back?

However, there was no rationale for any talk of a decline. The talkers were only talking about things they wanted to see happen and not about reality. The Steelers didn't even make the play offs last year while the Patriots made it with a young and inexperienced defense. The Patriots have brought two very good tight ends to the game and their young defense is continuing to mature under Bill Belichick.

It would be foolish to dismiss any team that has played in four Super Bowls within the last decade. I guarantee that Belichick isn't going to dismiss the Colts as being too injured or soft to beat them. He knows the Colts are a consistently good team.

The Colts haven't played well in real football stadiums this year.

Patriots 35 Colts 16

TR808-you may well be right but I hope it is a better game than 35-16. I have no idea why, but for some reason I think it might be a closer game than that. Manning has heart, is proud, and gets up to play NE. I can`t really say I am a fan of either team, but I do admire the skill. There are many teams I like more, but then I grew up liking the Rams and Green Bay thanks to ELECTRIC FOOTBALL, so 40 years down the line my top 5 or 6 fave teams are mostly NFC. Most of the last 10 meetings Indy-NE have been good, close games-hopin 4 another!

So, Paul, since you mention electric football, did you ever complete a pass with that thing?