Cris Collinsworth and his 3 decades of NFL experience

on the Patriots:

We are starting to enter the point of the season where we really have to wonder if the New England Patriots are going to be one of the great teams of all-time. What they are doing is simply amazing.

I'm starting to get excited about the prospect of an undefeated season with the Patriots. I know there have been a few teams such as the Broncos and Colts who have made bids at perfection recently, but for the first time in a long time, this seems like a real possibility.

The hurdle for the Patriots is one of the toughest AFCs I've seen in a long time. The Colts, Steelers, Jaguars and Chargers are all really good. And the Patriots still have dates with the Colts and Steelers left on their schedule.

If the Patriots can beat the Colts in Indy, then you have to start having serious conversations about this being the greatest team of all-time, or at least of the salary-cap era. Comparing teams of different eras is hard, because you have to give credit to some of the deep teams that the Steelers and 49ers had. I have for a long time said the 49ers second team of the 1980s could have beaten 80 percent of the league.

But with due credit to the 1972 Dolphins and the 1985 Bears, it is hard to remember a team that was this dominant against its peers, and they definitely are on the right track to be one of the teams for the ages.