You come at the king, you best not miss.
Omar Little of "The Wire" may have defined the New England Patriots better than anyone could. After the team stumbled out of the gate to begin this season, many believed its defense was in absolute shambles.
But it turns out New England merely used the opening quarter of the year as a warmup and has now rounded into top form, stifling teams with the precision you'd expect from a Bill Belichick unit. This was on full display Sunday night, as the Patriots trounced the Denver Broncos 41-16, a scoreline that may actually be flattering to their once-rival.
New England led the NFL in scoring defense in 2016, allowing 15.6 points per game en route to capturing its second Super Bowl in three years. The Patriots did so with workmanlike efficiency; only Dont'a Hightower, Malcolm Butler, and Devin McCourty would register as mainstream names, as the sum of the parts outweighed the individual pieces. After the Patriots signed Stephon Gilmore and David Harris in the offseason, many were quick to blame the new additions for ruining the team's cohesion. However, as most early-season themes tend to be, that narrative was absolute nonsense.
During their current five-game winning streak, the Patriots have held opponents to 13.4 points per game, a total that would best last year's mark and would rank first again in 2017. New England also ranked eighth in turnover differential coming into Sunday's game, a statistic that's often predictive of sustained success. Writing the Patriots off would be perilous as November marches on.
New England is coached by the greatest defensive mind in history and is once again perched atop the AFC standings at 7-2. The defense may not have a single All-Pro, but it's greater than the sum of its parts. If that isn't the Patriot Way, nothing is.
