Moving on and foucs on a bye...

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Its now thurs, and this is not like the super bowl, or the AFC title game, there are still games to be played and playoff positioning to be had.. Sure we still ticked about how we would control our own destiny in the playoff seeding, but now all we could do is focus on the jets, and take it one game at a time...WHEN we beat the Jets, and if the Fish lose to the Panthers tonight, the AFC east is a forgone conclusion.. We could wrap that up in 2 weeks in Miami..


The Focus now is the bye, could we still catch the colts??? there is a chance, the colts have loseable games to the Texans, Ravens, Broncos, and the Titans, could shock them, and maybee our friends from new york.. Will the Colts go undefeated, NO, but 2-3 losses is realistic..

The AFC West- With Denver taking a slide we should be probably as Pats fans root for the Chargers this week. Chargers have some tough games as well Dallas, Tenn , But Denver and SD should cancel each other out, but as long as we have a better record then Denver we should be fine, But the Chargers should win the division- this is a 11-5 10-6 written all over it..

Cincy- here is where this is going to be trouble...Cincy has Oakland , Detroit, Cleveland, Minny, jets, San Diego, kc left, that one hurts, unless oakland can pull off a upset, sd and minny look to be the ones that could help up.. But Cincy would have to lose 2 games, because a tie would mean better division record, and Cincy has us beat so far with only cleveland to play..

So that is what we have to look forward to, Im looking ahead after 2 days of what if's and should have beens, but at least we have another game.. I dont know about all of you, but I want a colts rematch.. I dont care, give them to us again.. But the jets come first,and if we stub our toe against them, then the bye will be gone, and we will have a dog fight in dec for the playoffs... But as Pats fans this is what we have to look forward to ...

 

[Number 2]

Does the loss to the Bengals matter for playoff seeding? It was a preseason loss right?

 

[upstater1]

It's too early for this but don't worry about Cincy having us beat on tiebreakers.

If NE and Cincy go 12-4, and New England's loss is to the Saints, then New England gets the bye with a better conference record. If New England's loss is the Jets, then Cincy and New England tie for conference record, and they look at common opponents--minimum of 4 games.

We have 5 games in common. Both teams lost to Denver. But if New England beats Houston during the last week, the Patriots win the second tie-breaker, because Cincy lost to Houston.

So, we have the first two tie-breakers.

The same applies if both teams go 13-3.

The only way Cincy gets the bye over New England is if Cincy wins more games or Cincy loses to 2 more but one is to a NFC team, and the Patriots lose to an AFC team.

The Patriots are in good shape as long as they win 12 games at least AND beat Houston.

 

[aluminum seats]

Its now thurs, and this is not like the super bowl, or the AFC title game, there are still games to be played and playoff positioning to be had.. Sure we still ticked about how we would control our own destiny in the playoff seeding, but now all we could do is focus on the jets, and take it one game at a time...WHEN we beat the Jets, and if the Fish lose to the Panthers tonight, the AFC east is a forgone conclusion.. We could wrap that up in 2 weeks in Miami..


The Focus now is the bye, could we still catch the colts??? there is a chance, the colts have loseable games to the Texans, Ravens, Broncos, and the Titans, could shock them, and maybee our friends from new york.. Will the Colts go undefeated, NO, but 2-3 losses is realistic..

The AFC West- With Denver taking a slide we should be probably as Pats fans root for the Chargers this week. Chargers have some tough games as well Dallas, Tenn , But Denver and SD should cancel each other out, but as long as we have a better record then Denver we should be fine, But the Chargers should win the division- this is a 11-5 10-6 written all over it..

Cincy- here is where this is going to be trouble...Cincy has Oakland , Detroit, Cleveland, Minny, jets, San Diego, kc left, that one hurts, unless oakland can pull off a upset, sd and minny look to be the ones that could help up.. But Cincy would have to lose 2 games, because a tie would mean better division record, and Cincy has us beat so far with only cleveland to play..

So that is what we have to look forward to, Im looking ahead after 2 days of what if's and should have beens, but at least we have another game.. I dont know about all of you, but I want a colts rematch.. I dont care, give them to us again.. But the jets come first,and if we stub our toe against them, then the bye will be gone, and we will have a dog fight in dec for the playoffs... But as Pats fans this is what we have to look forward to ...

The tiebreaker between the Pats and Bengels would be conference record, so the Pats need Cincy to lose another conference game. After that it's best record in common games, which I don't feel like checking. Too many games left to worry about it at this point--put it this way, if the Pats run the table they'll probably get the bye; if they lose once, they might but unlikely; if they lose twice not a chance.

As for the post about whether preseason games count, see if you can delete that, buddy.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Does the loss to the Bengals matter for playoff seeding? It was a preseason loss right?

No its not about preseason, its about confrence record and common opponents.. say they lose to minn and both the pats and bengals finish with the same record, Bengals get the bye because of the record in the AFc, the pats have 3 losses, the bengals have 2... But for all this to matter is we need to run the table...

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

It's too early for this but don't worry about Cincy having us beat on tiebreakers.

If NE and Cincy go 12-4, and New England's loss is to the Saints, then New England gets the bye with a better conference record. If New England's loss is the Jets, then Cincy and New England tie for conference record, and they look at common opponents--minimum of 4 games.

We have 5 games in common. Both teams lost to Denver. But if New England beats Houston during the last week, the Patriots win the second tie-breaker, because Cincy lost to Houston.

So, we have the first two tie-breakers.

The same applies if both teams go 13-3.

The only way Cincy gets the bye over New England is if Cincy wins more games or Cincy loses to 2 more but one is to a NFC team.


The Patriots are in good shape as long as they win 12 games as least and beat Houston.

Is that the second tie breaker record among common opponets??? If that is , I misjudged it...

 

[upstater1]

No its not about preseason, its about confrence record and common opponents.. say they lose to minn and both the pats and bengals finish with the same record, Bengals get the bye because of the record in the AFc, the pats have 3 losses, the bengals have 2... But for all this to matter is we need to run the table...

Right, if you assume they finish at 13-3. But, if both finish 12-4, then Patriots can still get the bye even if one of the Bengal losses is to Minny, as long as the Patriots loss is to the Saints or Panthers.

 

[upstater1]

Is that the second tie breaker record among common opponets??? If that is , I misjudged it...

Yes, first is conference record.

Then comes common opponents.

 

[aluminum seats]

It's hard to believe the Bengals are involved in a discussion like this.....

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

It's hard to believe the Bengals are involved in a discussion like this.....

They are this years cinderella story, coming out of nowhere.....

 

[Jimke]

If this team starts focusing on a bye, they will be watching the

playoffs from the living room. The Jets bad mouthed the Patriots

the last time they played and pulled off the win. Just because

Kris Jenkins and Ronnie Brown got hurt doesn't mean the Jets and

Dolphins will roll over and play dead. If our Swiss Cheese defense

shows up for the rest of the season, all games could be close.

 

[aluminum seats]

If this team starts focusing on a bye, they will be watching the

playoffs from the living room. The Jets bad mouthed the Patriots

the last time they played and pulled off the win. Just because

Kris Jenkins and Ronnie Brown got hurt doesn't mean the Jets and

Dolphins will roll over and play dead. If our Swiss Cheese defense

shows up for the rest of the season, all games could be close.

I don't think the team is focusing on a bye. We're fans talking about it.

 

[aluminum seats]

By the way, Sean, fix the spelling in your thread title......

 

[patsfan-1982]

right now the pats are the number 4 seed and i think thats where they stay

i would love to see them get a by but i dont think they will

san diego is hot right now and i think they will beat denver sunday and they have the Bengals at home and i think they win that game and get the #2 seed the Bengals get #3

pats get the #4 seed and play the steelers the #5 seed

and denver or the ravens get the 6 seed

 

[aluminum seats]

right now the pats are the number 4 seed and i think thats where they stay

i would love to see them get a by but i dont think they will

san diego is hot right now and i think they will beat denver sunday and they have the Bengals at home and i think they win that game and get the #2 seed the Bengals get #3

pats get the #4 seed and play the steelers the #5 seed

and denver or the ravens get the 6 seed

San Diego is wildly inconsistent, and I wouldn't unduly elevate a team with two wins against the Raiders and one against the Chiefs. If anything, I think I was too pessimistic re the Pats getting a bye if they lose again. They still have the inside track if their loss is to N.O. Honestly, Miami at Miami is always tough, but beyond that I don't think they'll even have a worry.

 

[aluminum seats]

Pats would also have tiebreakers against the Chargers if the Pats don't lose another conference game.

 

[JSn]

If our Swiss Cheese defense shows up for the rest of the season, all games could be close.

That's no gouda.

 

[Ryan]

I think they end up with the #3 seed. Cincinnati has so many awful teams left on the schedule that it's hard for me to pick against them as the the favorite for the #2 seed. It's still a good possibility for the Pats, but I'm not getting my hopes up until I see Cincy stumble a bit.

Even so, I'm pretty comfortable with the #3 seed. A bunch of teams have won the Super Bowl in recent years that didn't have a bye. If the Pats can get hot it might benefit them to keep playing right on through Wildcard weekend.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think they end up with the #3 seed. Cincinnati has so many awful teams left on the schedule that it's hard for me to pick against them as the the favorite for the #2 seed. It's still a good possibility for the Pats, but I'm not getting my hopes up until I see Cincy stumble a bit.

Even so, I'm pretty comfortable with the #3 seed. A bunch of teams have won the Super Bowl in recent years that didn't have a bye. If the Pats can get hot it might benefit them to keep playing right on through Wildcard weekend.

Agreed. #3 is likely. However, Cinci does have a couple of tough games left. Not to sound like a negative nellie but I think 12-4 is likely for the Pats. It's been discussed that if the Pats/Cinci finish with identical records, Pats get #2 via conference record & tiebreakers.

Besides the NO game which I think they lose in a close one, every other game is very winnable.

IMO the key game is @ Mia. maybe with Brown now on IR the game may be a bit easier to game plan against.

My .02$

 

[patsfan-1982]

San Diego is wildly inconsistent, and I wouldn't unduly elevate a team with two wins against the Raiders and one against the Chiefs. If anything, I think I was too pessimistic re the Pats getting a bye if they lose again. They still have the inside track if their loss is to N.O. Honestly, Miami at Miami is always tough, but beyond that I don't think they'll even have a worry.

all good points

but the bangals next 3 game's oakland the browns and the lions

then they play the vikings san diego KC and the jets

even if they lost 2 out 3 vs san deigo jets and vikings that would still give them 12 wins

san deigo after denver on sanday only has the cowboys and bangals to play if they lost both to the cowboys and the bangals they would give them 11 wins and 9 afc wins

the pats play the jets i think they will win this game

at N.O i say they loose that game

they play at the fish and at the bills

last game of the season will be a big one at houston who may still be playing for the 6 seed

i dont think the pats will win more then 11 games will that get them a by i dont think so i say if they dont win out they dont get a by if any one can win a lot of games in a row its the pats so we will see