Welcome to the Friday Five, bye-week edition!

Every week during the NFL regular season, I’ve dropped five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to the Pats’ next kickoff.

Since the Patriots are off this Sunday, we’ve doubled the fun and pushed this column back two days.

Ready, set, football.

Buffalo, but it’s close.

The Texans’ defense is the most fearsome unit — offense, defense or special teams — of any in the AFC. Houston ranks first in points allowed and defensive EPA (Expected Points Added). The Texans are second by the opponent-and-situation-adjusted metric DVOA on defense, and they are are littered with Pro Bowl-caliber talents on both sides of the ball.

Yet I can’t slot them ahead of the Bills. It comes down to this: if you’r

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