In spite of having one of the youngest (and statistically most permissive) defenses in the league, New England sits atop its division, its conference and the league with an 11-2 overall record.

New Patriots on offense, this year:

Deion Branch, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Danny Woodhead, Alge Crumpler.

The Patriot offense leads the league in scoring, with 379 points.  The next nearest is Indy with 347, 32 points behind -- which is about what New England scores per game (31.6). 

Tom Brady leads the league with a 109.5 passer rating.

New England ranks #1 in Football Outsiders Team Efficiency rankings.

The Patriots offense is #1 in FO Efficiency.

The O-Line is ranked #2 in Run Blocking and #6 in Pass Protection.

Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis holds the #2 DVOA ranking and the #3 DYAR ranking (he's an undrafted free-agent).  By Football Ooutsider's analysis, he is more productive and currently a more valuable asset than Adrian Peterson or LaDanian Tomlinson (for example).

Danny Woodhead is the best running back in the league among those with 20-99 rushes, according to FO.

Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez (both rookies) are FO's #3 and #4 Tight Ends, overall, league-wide.  That's more value than Jason Witten, Tony Gonzales, Todd Heap, and Jeremy Shockey (among many others).  Only Vernon Davis (a five year veteran) and Antonio Gates (an eight year veteran) rank higher.

None of these statistical compilations take into account today's 36-7 handling of the Bears, at Soldier Field, in driving snow and freezing cold.  In that game, Brady passed for 369 yards and two touchdowns (and no interceptions) against the third best defense in the entire league.  Green-Ellis ran for over four yards per carry against the #2 run defense in the league.  Wes Welker and Deion Branch each had 8 receptions and over 100 yards receiving; five other Patriots caught at least 2 passes.  Did I mention it was snowing and blowing?

New England has not committed a turnover in five straight games. 

According to Steve Young, Belichick is running an offense derived from Bill Walsh's West Coast philosophy, but at a higher level of refinement and perfection than Walsh, Montana and Young himself ever attained.

So my message to the media and fans of other teams is this:  It is time to stop talking about Bill Belichick as a defensive genius, and start talking about him as an offensive genius.

Should the Patriots win their fourth Lombardi trophy, it will then be time to start talking about him as the greatest coach the game has ever produced.