NFL top 5
 

No need to mention any others because the rest are all pretenders.

1. New England--best in the past 10 years
2. Indianapolis---6 picks, 2 returns allowed on the road and they STILL should've won
3. Dallas---the best balanced team in the NFC
4. Pittsburgh---wouldn't be shocked if they knocked off NE
5. Green Bay---give it up doubters; they are for real

Even as a "diehard" Steeler fan that I am.....I highly doubt this :(

Why, I'm not a steeler fan at all and they have a solid shot. The huge downside being they have to play in foxboro, they have the exact blueprint of a team that could beat the pats. They have a top tier defense, they is comletely physical. They have a top teir offense with wide recievers they are not afraid to take a hit(pats have a physical secondary) and they have a running back who is capable of going yard everytime he touches the ball. If they can keep the mental lapses from happening, they have a very legit chance to win that game.

If Baltimore can get their two corners healthy - I actually think they have the best shot at beating NE of any team left on the schedule under the assumption that NE plays to win the Giants game.

There are a lot of players on the Ravens with a lot of pride - and beating NE at home would be something of a way of salvaging a disappointing season.

When they are healthy and at home - they can be artists on defense.

I think Brian Billick has a great understanding of Moss - he was his O-coordinator in Minnesota that one season when they set the NFL scoring record. The Pats offense looks very similar to the '98 Vikings offense - only they throw the ball more with a qb upgrade from a decrepit Randall Cunningham to an outstandingly accurate Tom Brady - however, they don't have a Robert Smith to run the ball with.

Baltimore's passing game is obviously going to have to play their best game of the season to pull off the upset though.

Lol DrugS!

Uh...Drugs...dont they need to find that passing game first??

I think the Pats Defense might out score the Ravens Offense.

As I've stated before - the flip of a coin can handicap football games as good as I - however, I expect Baltimore will have a much better passing game than people think when they play the Pats.

They are a team that can historically be very dangerous as underdogs in big games.

I fear a healthy Baltimore at home much more than a Steelers team on the road - that's for sure.

"4. Pittsburgh---wouldn't be shocked if they knocked off NE"

everyone else would. pittsburgh figured out a way to lose to arizona. how do you think they beat the "best in the past 10 yeras"?

They have a lot of rookie coaches and Bellichick has yet to steal all their signals?

I realize Baltimore has injuries but right now their offense is the worst in the NFL. They have ZERO chance of beating New England. Cincinnati is a terrible team and the Ravens just lost by double digits to them......this is a perfect example of what happens when a team gets old in a hurry.

Do you watch the NFL at all? We just saw an 0-7 team go on the road and beat a team off a 4 game win streak. They are called upsets. Pittsburgh right now has no weakness; excellent defense, running game, QB and special teams.

we just saw one 0-4 team beat another 0-4 team. if you can ignore the loss to arizona, i can ignore the last 5 weeks.

I happen to agree with you in regards to Pittsburgh being capable of beating NE. They are the "could be any kind" type of horse. This being said, that game is at NE, if this game were at Pittsburgh I would say they have a shot. I have never seen a team so focused as this one (Granted, I haven't been along and coherent in the sporting world for 30-40 years like some here).

There schedule really lines up well for this opportunity of going undefeated and I think the Giants, the last game of the season, could be a real barn barner. Giants will probably still have something to play for and will need the win, and the extra incentive of not letting a team go undefeated. And guess what, more then half the nation won't be able to watch it because it is on the NFL NETWORK.

i could see the steelers knocking the pats off. colts came close, and i think the steelers have a better D than indy.

pats are playing really well, and it's really hard to imagine them losing to anyone the way they're playing. but, other than in 1972, someone eventually knocked off that last undefeated powerhouse.

i too am a steelers fan and i don't see them beating ne on the road. the steelers play the kind of game that could upset them.
i'd rather see the steelers lose the regular season meeting close, then take a good run at ne in the playoffs.

I have a better chance to dig out Jessica Biel than the Ravens do of scoring the necessary points it'll take to beat the Pats. When Demetrius Williams is your playmaking WR, that says alot. Mason might as well hang it up along with my team's garbage. Kearse and Dawkins are yesterday's mayonnaise.
I thought I went out on a limb by saying the Skins had a shot to take down Goliath. Man o man.

i don't think they will beat the pats, but i wouldn't be surprised if they were able to take them down.

you did. a precarious, rotten limb!

i love the skins, but i knew damn well they couldn't beat new england. hell, they couldn't even beat the eagles. still can't believe that one.

When the Eagles have their backs against the wall, they usually play well. If they happened to be coming off of a win last week, the outcome of this game would probably have been different. They get ultra complacent.
The Skins will bounce back. I think the G Men will do their usual second half of the year crumble. With Plax's ankle in shambles, their bread and butter (play action, deep to Burress) seems to be in jeopardy.

Baltimore has a better chance at ruining Miami's shot a perfect 0-16 season than they do at beating NE!

I think the last team to go 15-1 was the Steelers - and Baltimore, who I believe was something like 9-7 that year, massacred the Steelers at home. It was one of the more one-sided games I watched that year.

I have no idea if Balt will have their two pro-bowl corners back in the lineup against New England - but, if they are healthy on defense - at home on a Monday Night - with the Pats possibly looking ahead to a Steelers team they will smear six days later - Baltimore will play them very tough.

One week the Vikings murder the Chargers 44-7 .... the next week the Vikings get murdered and the Chargers beat the Colts. Assuming Baltimore gets healthy - I can't see how they won't play their best game of the season at home on a Monday night against the Pats. I think everyone is getting to caught up on how horrible the Ravens look right now.

Didn't Baltimore go 8-0 at home last year? And though they lost to the Colts at home in the Playoffs - Manning couldn't move the ball at all on them.

It seems like a monster trap game if there ever was one...assuming Balt has it's two starting corners back for that game - but I'm too lazy to look that up and would rather just type away my always valued football opinions.

that year was when the steelers lost the season opener, and then big ben hit the scene. first loss as a starter in the playoffs. heck of a year for pittsburgh.

that chargers win vs the colts has got to be one of the ugliest ever, and from what i read this morning, the players are way beyond unhappy with their coach. norv turner not setting the san diego world on fire.

Big Ben made his debut in the game where the Ravens killed the Steelers in Pittsburgh's 15-1 season. I think it was like week 3.

Tommy Maddux got knocked out of the game by Baltimore....who played an off-the-charts game that day.

Lets make a wager based on both corners playing, how many points you want?

28 please

I only bet on New England - not against them.

But, in case you want to be super duper generous - I'll break that rule and take the Ravens +24

All kidding aside, the Pats will probably beat them and go 16-0...but they sure as hell ain't losing to a Steelers team that they will carve up with their passing game - and who's offense they will frustrate at home.

Baltimore is a trap game for the Pats - and they are one magical last stand by the aging Ravens defense - combined with a big special teams play or two and a halfway decent game from Wills running the ball away from a shocking upset.

I think too many people are getting caught up in the fact that Pittsburgh - who was one phantom holding peanilty away from losing to the Browns at home last week - is playing much better football than Baltimore has been playing.

Drugs, you have lost your damn mind defending Baltimore, their offense is horrific, dare I say the BEARS have a better one. That D aint too hot either. But I see your hypothetical stance and won't argue it.

The +24 is interesting because that is what I think it will end, either 27-3 or 34-10 NE wins. I don't disagree about the 'trap game' theory, but given that theory, the Redskins should have been a trap game also, and that was just plain sick.

The Pats will get beat. Might be the Ravens, might be someone else, but they will get beat.

The Redskins had them on the road - the Ravens will have them at home on a Monday Night. Big difference.

Not to mention - the Ravens have a ton of players with a lot of pride and are having a frustrating season. The Redskins came into the Pats game feeling good about themselves.

In order to have a 'trap game", the trapee (?) has to have some ability to begin with AND the team being trapped has to be really vulnerable. I don't think either of those was in play that weekend.

The NFL is a ying and yang league so be wary of those who look invinceable now as they may go into the playoffs on a 3 game losing streak. Remember the Colts, Chergers et al from previous years. Just when you think a team is set, stuff happens

I don't disagree, I don't know what to think about the Super Bowl yet. Usually when the public is all over a team, I tend to zag as far as opinion, but NE has been awful convincing, some D coordinator is going to have to get awful creative.

They keep on giving Brady 8 seconds to throw, he is going to keep on completing 75%

I just hope Miami continues to lose. 0-16 is historical. That way even if the Pats go undefeated, The Dolphins will have the advantage of having both a no losses season and a no wins season. Hard to match that!

i think they run the table.

if they were going to lose it was to indy. barring the colts, they are significantly better than every other team in the league.

they buried dallas. they humiliated a good washington d. they seem to find a way to get motivated for every game.

even if they have home field locked up late in the season i think they play to best the 72 dolphins. don shula did all he could to make sure of that.

i think these guys are talanted and have a chip on their shoulder.

NE gets injuries, especially to the defense which has a lot of old guys, they may lose. If they stay healthy, they may not lose

OK..You may laugh at this, but besides Indy, who have they really beaten? If you say Dallas, I have to ask who have they really beaten? Then you have the Jets, Bills, Miami, etc. Yeah, they are a great team, but I think they lose at least once

I am praying the Dolphins catch fire - the 49ers look destined to finish 2-14.

You know, the Pats have the 49ers first round draft pick!

How epic would it be if the Pats go 19-0, win the Super Bowl for the 4th time in 8 years, and get the number one overall pick in the draft in a year where they had their own draft pick taken away from them for "cheating" ?

Would that not be awesome!?

Great call right there. How ridiculous.

WOW!

Drugs...They traded one of their pix away in the draft and lost one from Jet-Gate, right? They still have a #1 left?