Patriots of 2013/2014...

[Shane Bond]

The AFC East is middle of the pack as far as divisional power rankings. The AFC South not so much.

No one said its worse than AFC South.

[TAPLOOK]

No one said its worse than AFC South.

 

It has been implied.   

[MacDee1975]

One thing that should always be remembered:

 

You never count out New England as long as Belichick is there.

[chad72]

It has been implied.   

 

I think most of those who implied that referred to a thread by Fx Stryker on how the AFC South had a better record than the AFC East in the years 2002-2010 when Peyton was playing as a Colt to combat posts that suggested Peyton was the one feeding on bottom feeders and that Brady was doing so as well.

 

Besides, strength of schedule at the beginning of the year is so overrated and the one that matters is the strength of schedule at the end. Texans, at the beginning of 2012, had a low SOS but with the Colts winning 11 games with Luck last year, had the best SOS at the end of the year after having played the Ravens, Packers, Broncos, and Colts last year in the regular season.

 

While a team might be tested playing a tough schedule, I'd have to say that it might be a good thing to have a mix of tough and easy teams in the long run, IMO. What is the point of being battle tested if you cannot make the playoffs or go in hobbling.

 

I would have to say playing the NFC West and AFC West plus Bengals has been a daunting task for the Colts this year, but we are going into the playoffs very likely banged up. Only time will tell if we have one more burst in us.

[Shane Bond]

It has been implied.   

To you it is