According to the gospel of Bill Parcells, the Patriots are the best team in the AFC.

As of Sunday morning, they owned the conference’s best record at 10-2.

If you are what your record says you are, that says it all about the Patriots.

But naturally, in an NFL season when the league’s hierarchy has shifted on an almost weekly basis and no truly great teams have emerged, it’s not that simple.

The Pats’ last win — an injury-riddled escape from a bad Bengals team — shook their Super Bowl odds. Starting left tackle Will Campbell was lost to a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. Left guard Jared Wilson went down with a high ankle sprain, the same injury that will keep defensive tackle Milton Williams out for three more games at a minimum.

Before the Pats lost two of their five s

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