Dear Patriots Fans

I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl, but all this 19-0 talk needs to stop. Yes, your team is undefeated. Kudos to them! Yes, the Patriots look very good this year. Yes, they have new fire to prove that Peeping Bill Bellicheck's hobbies have nothing to do with their dominance the last 7 years.

But let's just take the rhetoric down a notch, shall we? Take a closer look at those 4 opponents you're so proud of humiliating. They're a combined 4-12, each one having a 1-3 record. "Of cawse!" you chortle chowderly. "They've played ah Patruts, dnchaknaw?"

Beating up the tomato cans that are the Jets, Bills, Chargers, and Bengals hardly qualifies the Patriots as the second coming of the 1972 Dolphins. Simply look at who *they* managed to beat: Chicago, Baltimore, and Miami (twice!). Baltimore appears to be mediocre, Chicago is so bad they put in Brian Griese as QB, and Miami is "cover the children's eyes" horrible.

I'm not saying the Patriots aren't good; they certainly appear to be. I'm just saying that when they have to play real teams (against whom they only really have three games: Dallas, Indy, and Pittsburgh) some of that luster may come off. It may not; who knows?

But don't be surprised if the Patriots cruise through their creampuff schedule to 13-3 (in a division with the football equivalent of the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Devil Rays) and suddenly find themselves stiffed in the playoffs against a more hardened team.

Seems like this has happened to certain Indiana team in the past, in a few games that the Patriots might remember well...