The New England Patriots started the season miserably on defense. They gave up 128 points in their first four games. They lost practically their entire defensive line during the preseason. They lost Dont'a Hightower for the year midway through the season. Big free agent pickup Stephon Gilmore missed several weeks with an injury of his own. If there was ever going to be a year in which the Patriots were too depleted on defense to realistically compete for the Super Bowl, this seemed like that year.

And yet, the Patriots have not only righted the ship, they have transformed into the NFL's best defense. In their last six games, all wins, they have given up only 75 points in total. The first four wins of that streak came without Tom Brady and the offense ever scoring more than 24 points. Their 32 points allowed per game average has dropped all the way to 12.5 in that span.

Here's how impressive that is: the NFL's best statistical defense this season, the Jacksonville Jaguars, has allowed only 14.1 points per game. This Patriots run, averaged over a full season, would be the best in the entire NFL. No NFL team has allowed fewer points per game over a season since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Does that mean that this is one of the best defenses in NFL history? No. But the Patriots have now played 50 percent more games of excellent defense than poor defense. They have figured out their rotations. Everybody knows their jobs. It's time to start taking this Patriots defense seriously. They are for real.

And, in true Patriots fashion, the stretch has not come on the back of stars like Hightower and Gilmore. It has been Kyle Van Noy, Johnson Bademosi and the rest of New England's Island of Misfit Toys. Bill Belichick has done it again. Never doubt New England's ability to develop players you've never heard of into a defense that can win the championship.

The New England Patriots will try to move to 8-2 when they take on the Raiders in Mexico City! Take a second to sign up for our FREE Patriots newsletter!