True, although every team loses players along the way and has to play with backups.Well not only was Brady missing - Gronk, Solder, and Mason were too. Fleming started at tackle that game and Karras at guard
I guess the question is, if the rest of the AFC is really as bad as Red suggested ... how can you get a true read of how good the Pats are?
The short answer is they only have to be as good as they need to be to be the best in a weak conference. And that may well be enough.