Tom Brady Continues Hot Streak, Has Patriots Destined for Playoffs Yet Again

Don't look now, but the New England Patriots have reasserted their dominance over the AFC East.

With a 27-25 win over the 1-6 New York Jets in the first good Thursday Night Football matchup of the year, quarterback Tom Brady led the 5-2 Patriots to a commanding lead in the division—a mark that is even slightly more emphatic as New England beat the second-place Buffalo Bills (3-3) in Week 6. 

Maybe it wasn't the convincing win fans may have wanted, but tight end Rob Gronkowski addressed that in his postgame comments:

We got the win, that’s all that matters. They’re a good team and they got solid players and they play hard and we came away with the victory against the Jets, so it’s always great beating them, in our division especially, and it was great to come out with the victory no matter what it takes and we got the 'W.'

Brady's stats weren't out of this world, but he's continued to take steps forward after a poor start to the season. He completed 20-of-37 passes (54 percent) for 261 yards (7.1 yards per attempt), three touchdowns and no interceptions. That's good for a 103.5 passer rating—his third-best of the season. 

Week 7 against the Jets also marks Brady's third straight game without throwing an interception, and all three games have featured multiple touchdowns (something he was unable to get in the first four weeks of the season). Since the Patriots' embarrassing 41-14 Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady has thrown nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

Stretches like this don't do much to solidify Brady's spot as one of the best quarterbacks of all time, as he locked that up long ago, but they do provide evidence that the many who spoke of his demise may have done so prematurely. 

Perhaps most important, Brady is still playing with that infamous chip on his shoulder, as noted by Nick O'Malley of Masslive.com:

But when the topic of the 2013 game came up on set, Brady was candid in the way he tends to exude intensity after games, regardless of the result. According to Brady, that chip on his shoulder is still there after every game.

'I'm always sort of frustrated,' Brady said. 'I've been playing for 15 years, and I'm sort of pissed off about everything.'

The response drew laughs from the NFL Network set. When pressed about him being 'pissed,' given his current situation in New England (three Super Bowls, a hefty contract, a supermodel wife), Brady admitted that he can never be too mad.

'Things are pretty good, Rich,' Brady said to NFL Network host Rich Eisen. 'When you keep it all in perspective, I wouldn't trade places with anybody.'

This stretch of wins also means that the "Patriots are done" crowd has to wait another year for its decade-old predictions to come true. 

Cynics love to say the New England dynasty hasn't done anything since Spygate—that "Belicheat" can't get anything done without his cameras. Ironically, of course, almost no team can claim the dominance the Patriots have even without any Super Bowls in that span—six division championships, six playoff appearances, four AFC title-game appearances and two conference championships. 

Think long and hard about your favorite team's comparable resume before you head down to the comments to say something silly. 

In many ways, we're simply seeing the Patriots reinvent themselves yet again. 

Previously, the potent, high-flying New England passing attack of a few years back morphed into a two-tight end unit featuring Rob Gronkowski and pre-alleged murdering Aaron Hernandez. It wasn't as if that was some paradigm of offensive perfection in head coach Bill Belichick's head. No, it was simply what the personnel dictated and the best way to win matchups against most opponents. 

Last year, we saw much of that fall apart thanks to a Gronkowski injury and a Hernandez incarceration. It didn't help that wide receiver Wes Welker went to Denver and Brady received a group of wide receivers who most NFL fans couldn't have picked out of a lineup even with the help of three lifelines. 

It's not an excuse for Brady's performance last season (sorry, Gisele), but it is worthwhile context for his struggles both last year and at the beginning of 2014. Now, both Brady and the Patriots seem to have hit their stride. 

Remember, even at what many consider Brady's worst in 2013, that was still a New England team with a fantastic running game and solid defense that made it to the AFC Championship Game, losing by only 10 points to the Denver Broncos. 

This team has undergone yet another metamorphosis. 

In terms of scoring, the Patriots are 11th in the league at 26.7 points per game. This is outpacing their offensive yards (17th with 349.2 yards per game) and both their run and pass offenses, which are ranked 18th and 15th, respectively. 

A big part of that is a plus-nine turnover differential, which is tied for the league's best. That's thanks to eight forced fumbles (tied for fourth in the NFL) and seven interceptions (tied for fifth). To add defensive plays to the impact, New England is sixth in the league with 18 total sacks. 

When you add those impact plays to an already average defense, it's almost the opposite of the "bend but don't break" persona that many better-than-average defenses take. Instead, it's a "bend until we're able to break you" defense that seizes opportunities to not force a punt or a field goal but send the ball going the other way in Brady's capable hands. 

Another huge piece of the Patriots' prosperity this season has been the success of kicker Stephen Gostkowski. He's 18-of-19 on the season, including 2-of-2 against the Jets and 9-of-9 for the season over 40 yards. Where the offense used to find the end zone with seemingly reckless abandon, it's now able to still put three points on the board when things don't work out as planned. 

It all funnels back to Brady, though, and this team goes as he does. 

The Patriots cannot win—well, not consistently—without Brady putting together solid performances like he has the past couple of weeks. They can win a squeaker here or there against lesser opponents when Brady's having an off day, but to get back to the playoffs this season, New England needs him to be at least this good every single week. 

Coming up, the Patriots face the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos, then they get their bye week before matching up against the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers.

The way the Patriots are playing now, though, those games don't look like nearly as high a hurdle as they may have looked only a few weeks ago. As long as Brady continues to play like this, nothing is stopping New England from proving a whole lot of us wrong once again. 

Michael Schottey is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Find more of his stuff on his archive page and follow him on Twitter.