WEEI ranks them 6th (+4):  The Patriots came out with an excellent game plan to beat a very solid team. However, there are many concerns around this football team. Injuries are one problem (Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Laurence Maroney, Randy Moss and Wes Welker). The next major problem is the red-zone offense. The Patriots have scored one touchdown in their last eight tries in the red zone. One stat that has been overlooked following the win against the Falcons is the fact the Patriots only committed two penalties for a total of 10 yards after being penalized 11 times for 89 yards against the Jets. The Patriots will continue to get better as the season rolls on.

National Football Post ranks them 6th (nc):  RB Fred Taylor is proving to be one of the better free agent signings, as the running game is making up for the lack of the deep ball in New England.

Fox Sports ranks them 6th (nc):  Record is just right.  It turns out there was no reason to freak out after all over the Pats' sluggish first couple games. Instead, Bill Belichick had to realize that the 2009 Patriots were not the "bombs away" 2007 version, at least not yet as Tom Brady shakes his cobwebs from missing most of 2008. After 100 passes in Brady's first two games back, Emperor Bill dialed up the running game perfectly last week vs. Atlanta.

ProFootball Weekly ranks them 7th (nc):  Demise of dynasty over-exaggerated.

Peter King at SI ranks them 7th (+1):  Still can't figure out this team, but I do know this: As long as Fred Taylor runs the ball the way he did Sunday (21 carries, 105 yards, 5.0 per rush), he's an infinitely better option than Laurence Maroney.

CBS Sports ranks them 7th (+1):  Tom Brady is starting to show signs of coming to life. That's bad news for the rest of the league. Fred Taylor is running the ball well, which helps.

USA Today ranks them 7th (+2):  An off-target Brady could find trouble against Ravens' secondary.

Yahoo! Sports ranks them 7th (+2):  Given Joey Galloway's dead-fish impersonation – and a certain Metrodome Miracle – how badly would Bill Belichick like a do-over on his decision to cut Greg Lewis?

ESPN ranks them 7th (+3):  Tom Brady might not have his offense in sync yet, but you can see it's coming.

Don Banks at SI ranks them 7th (+2)  The Patriots don't look real good right now for cutting veteran receiver Greg Lewis just before the season started and keeping the older Joey Galloway, who has struggled to find a role in New England's passing game. Galloway likely gets more time to see if he can contribute, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage just yet that he makes the whole season as a Patriot. We've seen New England cut its losses in midseason many times before.

The Sporting News ranks them 8th (-1):  Difficult to beat when getting the kind of running Fred Taylor provided Sunday vs. Atlanta.

 What If Sports ranks them 8th (+3)

AVERAGE RANK:  6.92 (+.85)