[kenberman]

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I wasn’t putting them down. I just think that the next few years will be dominated by the Colts and the Bengals, with the Steelers & Pats staying strong but not being able to beat the Colts & Bengals. Nothing personal.

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I gotcha.

I think you're way too high on the Bengals - they can't stop anyone, and you simply can't dominate w/o a semblance of a defense. They will be good, however.

Re: the Colts, we'll see how much of their team they can keep together, w/ the salary cap looming.

As I already said, I don't see the Patriots being any worse next year - I see them being better, in fact.

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I think the Bengals need a couple more years to get that D together, but they already get alot of int's.

Yeah, alot depends on the Colts keeping their team together. They say Edge will be back next year, but what else are they supossed to say?

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int's aren't nec. the best way to judge a D. the offense has scored a ton of points, giving them leads, forcing the opposition to throw a lot of passes.

re: the salary cap, you'll get hit with a lot of role player losses that add up. The Patriots have been lucky/good enough to replace their losses with very capable guys in the draft/cheap free agency.

examples:

Damien Woody > Dan Koppen

Ted Washington > Vince Wilfork

Bobby Hamilton > Ty Warren

Lawyer Milloy > Rodney Harrison

The secondary is the weak point on this team, and ironically the Pats have usually done a good job drafting/signing here. Randall Gay was solid last year (now hurt), Gus Scott looked good (now hurt), and Ty Poole is good (but hurt).

The Pats have been fortunate enough that they have few 'superstars' that demand huge money. Edge is going to want big money, Peyton already gets ginormous money, and I forget what Harrison's situation is, but I don't think he is/will stay cheap. Somebody will give Reggie Wayne big money. ditto for a guy like Dallas Clark...once guys get rings (IF the Colts win a ring [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]) your players become more attractive.