Why You Can Never Count Tom Brady, New England Patriots Down and out

The New England Patriots looked like they were headed for another dominant season in 2011, but instead they have hit the midpoint of the year at 5-3 and are tied with the New York Jets atop the AFC East. While this season has certainly been disappointing thus far, it would be foolish to bet against Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Pats.

New England has lost in back-to-back weeks, after falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 25-17 in Week 8 and losing 24-20 to the New York Giants in Week 9. Tonight they square off against the New York Jets on the road and to say it is a huge game that could change the course of the season would be an understatement.

The thing about tonight's matchup is that Jets coach Rex Ryan and his quarterback Mark Sanchez don't have the kind of big-game results that Belichick and Brady have produced. The Patriots' coach-quarterback combo has produced four AFC titles and three Super Bowl championships. Don't expect them to be panicking at 5-3. 

Brady has been solid as always this year, completing 212-of-321 passes (66 percent) for 2,703 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His quarterback rating is third-best in the NFL at 100.0. While his interception numbers are a little high, I wouldn't expect that trend to continue in the second half of the season.

The problem for New England this year has been the team's defense, which currently ranks dead last in the NFL in total yards allowed. The Patriots are surrendering a whopping 416.3 yards per game. That puts much more pressure on Brady and the offense to be almost perfect.

For some reason I feel like Belichick will get the defense to play better as the season wears on. There is too much talent on that side of the ball for New England to remain so disappointing.

If the defense can start to handle its side of the equation, the Brady and his second-ranked offense (437.3 yards per game) will lead the Patriots deep into the playoffs. It's really hard to believe New England will continue to struggle, since the team always seems to figure things out.