Are New England Patriots and New York Jets Wildly Overrated?

The New England Patriots proved they are better than their division rival New York Jets when they beat New York 37-16 this week.

But even after an impressive win, are both teams still wildly overrated?

The term "elite" is thrown around a lot in the NFL and it seems the only team truly deserving of that designation right now is the Green Bay Packers.

Can any team honestly claim to be playing on a level consistent with the Packers?

New England has a great pedigree to be certain. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's Super Bowl rings ensure that, but this is not a team that is ready for an extended playoff run.

The Patriots have serious issues, especially on defense, that must be addressed if they are to compete once the postseason starts.

The Jets are even further away from excellence. This is a "what have you done for me lately?" kind of league, and New York has not been impressive this year.

Let's analyze the reasons each of these teams may be overrated.

Where Is the Jets Ground-N-Pound?

The Jets offense is said to be based on running the football.

But New York ranks 24th in the league with only 98 yards rushing per game.

So the question becomes, how can a team be predicated on the ground-n-pound when they can't actually ground or pound?

Shonn Greene refuses to develop into the every down back the Jets want him to be.

He has 145 carries for 563 yards this season and two touchdowns.

LaDanian Tomlinson has been just as pedestrian with 167 yards and one rushing touchdown.

The Patriots Cannot Stop the Pass

The New England Patriots are simply incapable of stopping opposing passing attacks.

They are allowing an average of 308 passing yards per game. 308!

Tom Brady is great and his immense skills are common knowledge at this point, but can he be expected to lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl with such a small amount of defensive support?

When Vince Wilfork is tied for second on the team with two interceptions there is a serious problem.

The worst part is that they are not struggling because of a lack of effort, at least that could be corrected.

This is just a case of a group of defensive backs that are less talented than the receivers they face each week.

A Safety Leads the Jets in Tackles

Eric Smith leads the Jets in solo tackles with 41.

At first glance this may seem like a meaningless statistic, but New York has not been great against the run this season.

They rank 15th in the NFL, allowing 116 rushing yards per game.

The Jets have been renowned for their defense, and to have a safety lead the team in tackles does not create a proper aura of intimidation.

David Harris, Calvin Pace and Bart Scott are all great players.

To think that running backs are breaking through them and getting to the second level where Smith is forced to make tackles is a discouraging sign.

The Patriots Haven't Won the Big One in Awhile

The Patriots are expected to be elite. Every season they are listed among the best teams in all of football and it is usually justified.

But are they really as great as most fans think they are?

The fact is that this team has not won a Super Bowl since 2005, and recently they have been routinely shocked early in the playoffs.

Everyone remembers New England's undefeated season of 2007, but this football team has changed.

The Patriots are still one of the better teams in the NFL, but they have many questions that must be answered before the postseason begins.

Namely showing opposing offenses that they can stop the pass.

The Jets Receivers Are Not Great

Losing Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery were setbacks for the Jets, and the addition of Plaxico Burress was an attempt to offset those losses.

He just hasn't played at a high level consistently enough to carry New York's receivers.

To Burress's credit he has six touchdowns, but three of those came in one game.

Mark Sanchez is not a good enough quarterback to raise average receivers to greatness. He needs a superb supporting cast surrounding him and that does not exist in New York right now.

No player on the Jets is averaging more than 52 yards receiving per game.

And who leads the team in receiving yards?

The answer is not even a wideout, it's tight end Dustin Keller.

This team is struggling for an offensive identity and the receivers are not helping to establish one.

Mark Sanchez Is Not Good Enough

The Jets have made it to the AFC Championship in back-to-back years.

So to say they can't win with Mark Sanchez would be a lie, but to say they can't win the Super Bowl with Sanchez under center is realistic.

The Jets quarterback is just so annoyingly average. He does not cost New York many games and yet he also rarely puts the team on his back either.

This season, Sanchez has 2,081 yards passing, 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

These are not bad numbers. In fact his 14 touchdown passes are 10th most in the NFL.

And in his defense he is not surrounded with the best receivers the league has to offer.

The problem is Sanchez just does not have that "wow factor" that makes people believe he can lead New York to the Lombardi Trophy.

New England Patriots: Overrated

The Patriots are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the AFC.

But the question we are asking is if they are overrated. The answer to that question has to be a resounding yes.

They are not on the level of the Green Bay Packers, and it could be argued they are not on the level of the San Francisco 49ers either.

New England can hang with any team in this league on the offensive side of the ball, but they will have a tough time competing with the best if their defense continues to struggle.

What the Patriots do have going for them is the play of Tom Brady. In this case, however, even he can't prevent them from being overrated.

New York Jets Verdict: Overrated

The New York Jets have far too many deficiencies to warrant the hype that consistently surrounds them.

Granted a lot of that hype has come from their own head coach Rex Ryan, but even he now questions if they can win the AFC east this season.

The Jets have not developed the running game they had in seasons past and Mark Sanchez is yet to become the kind of quarterback that can carry a team for games at a time.

The defense is still very good, but even that unit has had it's troubles in 2011.

This is a 5-4 football team with a long way to go to overcome being overrated.