Fahrenhype
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2007
- Messages
- 650
- Reaction score
- 1
Employing the use of the online interwebs, I have confirmed a suspicion I had earlier in the day: The Patriots may be hosting the tougher opponent during the divisional round, despite being the first seed. Two issues:
01. Four of the best teams in the conference were in two divisions - East and North. Yeah, we gotta see if the Jets are still deserving of this distinction (the only thing keeping them in the picture was the victory over the Steelers) but either way you're getting teams that were at one point looking like division winners as wild card contenders. This doesn't impact the Pats immediately since they have the bye, but...
02. The Chiefs seem to be a total wrench in the prognostication machinery (sounded better than calling them the "wild card"). They have only played ONE of the other AFC playoff teams this year in a loss to the Colts. The NFC division they played isn't going to a field a + .500 team in the playoffs. I have no idea how anyone predicts how they fare in the wild card round. It would be easy to write off their lack of a tough schedule but the Cardinals made it to the superbowl two years ago.
The way I see it, the Chiefs could be better than people are giving them credit for, but not quite as good as a team they are seeded higher than like the Ravens. The Steelers could be sitting pretty with the #2 seed, not having to play Baltimore in the divisional round. There is no way the Patriots play the Chiefs in the divisional round, so they could be looking at either Indy or Baltimore. Despite recent performances, it is hard to even consider the Jets as a lesser team since they played a considerably tougher schedule and have the same number of wins right now. The plus side there is a recent matchup indicates the Pats are simply the better team right now, even with the expectation of a playoff game being closer. Wild card weekend is going to be very, very interesting.
01. Four of the best teams in the conference were in two divisions - East and North. Yeah, we gotta see if the Jets are still deserving of this distinction (the only thing keeping them in the picture was the victory over the Steelers) but either way you're getting teams that were at one point looking like division winners as wild card contenders. This doesn't impact the Pats immediately since they have the bye, but...
02. The Chiefs seem to be a total wrench in the prognostication machinery (sounded better than calling them the "wild card"). They have only played ONE of the other AFC playoff teams this year in a loss to the Colts. The NFC division they played isn't going to a field a + .500 team in the playoffs. I have no idea how anyone predicts how they fare in the wild card round. It would be easy to write off their lack of a tough schedule but the Cardinals made it to the superbowl two years ago.
The way I see it, the Chiefs could be better than people are giving them credit for, but not quite as good as a team they are seeded higher than like the Ravens. The Steelers could be sitting pretty with the #2 seed, not having to play Baltimore in the divisional round. There is no way the Patriots play the Chiefs in the divisional round, so they could be looking at either Indy or Baltimore. Despite recent performances, it is hard to even consider the Jets as a lesser team since they played a considerably tougher schedule and have the same number of wins right now. The plus side there is a recent matchup indicates the Pats are simply the better team right now, even with the expectation of a playoff game being closer. Wild card weekend is going to be very, very interesting.