What If Sports ranks them 22nd (-8)

Fox Sports ranks them 13th (-3):  Now everyone's jumping off the Matt Cassel bandwagon -- more like running for their lives -- after the Pats were hammered by Pittsburgh last week. Settle down, people. Sure the Pats were sloppy, but facing the league's toughest defense in a messy rain wasn't going to be a cakewalk.

Yahoo! Sports ranks them 13th (-1):  When confronted with anything resembling adversity – bad weather, physical defenders, sore legs – is there any star player who disappears more predictably than Randy Moss?

NFL.com ranks them 12th (nc):  A two-game West Coast trip could do plenty to allow the Patriots to recover from that Steeler beat-down.

ProFootball Weekly ranks them 12th (-3):  Ben Watson making career of stopping would-be pick-sixes.

ESPN ranks them 11th (-3):  This still is a good team, with four games left to prove it belongs in the playoffs.

Peter King at SI ranks them 11th (-7):  Ever notice you're a lot better when you hold onto the ball?  Matthew Slater's lucky I like his dad so much, or he'd have been my Goat of the Week for that monumental fumble on the kickoff against the Steelers, with the Patriots down only 13-10. Then the roof caved.

USA Today ranks them 11th (-4):  Playing Seahawks, Raiders next could be elixer to Pat's ills.

The Metro ranks them 11th (-4): The Patriots will be looking for their first win in England in about 230 years, a drought even the Red Sox would admire. Oh, it’s not those patriots?

The Sporting News ranks them 10th (-2):  Tom Brady's absence isn't seen in the prolific passing games against average pass defenses, but in his ability to deliver one or two clutch plays in a key conference game. The Pats are on the verge of not making the playoffs, but with the Jets shaky and their own slate light, the AFC East race will come down to the last week.

Don Banks at SI ranks them 8th (-3):  After winning 18 in a row last season, the Patriots longest such streak this year is two games, done twice. New England has alternated between losses and wins the past six games, a level of inconsistency that we're just not used to in Belichick-ville. With the Patriots so routinely reflecting the moods of their perfectionist head coach, I'm guessing this year's rollercoaster ride makes for a very uneasy feeling in the hallways and meeting rooms of Gillette Stadium.