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SB Nation has released their weekly power rankings, and at long last, the New England Patriots sit in their number one spot:
The Patriots won their seventh straight game and ascend to the top spot in our Power Rankings with a convincing win over the previously sixth-ranked Lions. New England has outscored opponents 277-134 during their win streak -- an average score of about 39-19 -- and are firing on all cylinders as the season heads into its final five weeks. Not surprisingly, the Pats' offensive outburst coincides nicely with Rob Gronkowski's return to full participation in the offense, and Tom Brady is on an absolute tear since Gronk got healthy. During the win streak, Brady has completed 67 percent of his passes for 2207 yards (315 per game), 22 touchdowns to only four interceptions. Pretty good, I guess.
The number two team in SB Nation's rankings? That would be the Green Bay Packers, who happen to be the Patriots' week 13 opponent:
Speaking of pretty good, let me tell you about a guy named Aaron Rodgers. He plays quarterback for the Packers. These Packers (who sit at No. 2 in our Rankings this week, their highest spot this season) have won seven of their last eight games and Mr. Rodgers has completed 68 percent of his passes during that stretch, throwing for 2260 yards (282 per game) at 9.72 yards per attempt. He's racked up 25 touchdown passes with just a paltry two interceptions in that time. Even the people that say stats are for losers would like these stats.
So, the two hottest offenses in the league and perhaps the two best overall teams in a late-season match-up with playoff seeding implications? What more needs to be said?