BOSTON (CBS) – When the 2014 schedule first came out, most people looked at New England starting in Week 8 and deemed the slate a “gauntlet.”

Starting in Week 8 the Patriots hosted the Bears and the Broncos, then traveled to Indy, hosted the Lions and then finished it off with Green Bay and San Diego — a rough stretch to say the least having to go up against some of the league’s premiere quarterbacks and offenses.

Well here we are now with three games left in the season and the Patriots are 10-3, first in the AFC and finished the aforementioned gauntlet with a 5-1 mark.

98.5 The Sports Hub’s Adam Jones had on Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald Tuesday night to weigh in on the 5-1 stretch, as well as the upcoming rematch with the Miami Dolphins.

“This stretch of games told us that the Patriots have a legitimate Super Bowl-caliber defense, and they can keep their offense in games, as they did for about three quarters basically against the Chargers,” said Howe. “The offense was a detriment to their overall well-being — Tom Brady threw another late second quarter interception, Brandon LaFell put the ball on the ground and they had a couple hiccups inside the red zone. But the defense kept them in it.”

With Devin McCourty and Darrelle Revis playing at All Pro levels, and Brandon Browner absolutely mauling opposing receivers, New England hasn’t had a secondary like this in at least a decade.

“What you’ve seen out of Darrelle Revis for pretty much the entire season, and what Brandon Browner has done for the last six games since getting healthy and conditioned, the secondary is really carrying the front seven,” said Howe. “They’ve had some injuries; Chandler Jones should be back eventually, Dont’a Hightower will be back eventually and I really think the defense is the strength of the team.”

The Patriots now shift their attention and focus to the Miami Dolphins, a team they lost to in Week 1 on the road. New England gets them at Gillette this time around and currently stand 6-0 at home.

Listen below for the full discussion:



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