Is the #2 seed the easier path?

[SB39]

Never too early to start talking playoff seeding!!

Do you guys think the Chiefs are for real? I'm not so sure they are, but if they are indeed for real, then we can easily envision a situation where either KC or Denver wins the West (and the #1 seed), with the other team getting the #5 seed.

So that sets up a situation where the #3 division winner will play a mediocre #6 seed, (possibly NYJ, Miami or San Diego) in the Wild Card round. If #3 wins, then 1 week later, #2 gets to host #3 and a Denver/KC game would perhaps be the 2 best records in the AFC facing each other in the division round. I can't say I ever remember that happening.

I think it's hilarious that until last week, people were talking about Denver going undefeated. Now we have a situation that if the Chiefs can manage a series split with Denver, the Donks might be a #5 seed. :singing:

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Never too early to start talking playoff seeding!!

Do you guys think the Chiefs are for real? I'm not so sure they are, but if they are indeed for real, then we can easily envision a situation where either KC or Denver wins the West (and the #1 seed), with the other team getting the #5 seed.

So that sets up a situation where the #3 division winner will play a mediocre #6 seed, (possibly NYJ, Miami or San Diego) in the Wild Card round. If #3 wins, then 1 week later, #2 gets to host #3 and a Denver/KC game would perhaps be the 2 best records in the AFC facing each other in the division round. I can't say I ever remember that happening.

I think it's hilarious that until last week, people were talking about Denver going undefeated. Now we have a situation that if the Chiefs can manage a series split with Denver, the Donks might be a #5 seed. :singing:

So far the Chiefs opponents have a combined record of 15-33...so until they beat a team like San Diego or Denver....I say its a mirage,Chiefs are a 10-6 team IMO

Unless Peyton gets injured I think Denver is well on their way to the #1 seed

 

[Kontradiction]

The Chiefs are an extremely solid and well rounded team with an accurate quarterback that doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes anymore. That said, I don't think they're poised for a Super Bowl run.

 

[kennyb]

This team is so far from playoff material that I'm not worried about seeding at this point. If they improve markedly I'll get excited.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

This team is so far from playoff material that I'm not worried about seeding at this point. If they improve markedly I'll get excited.

Far from playoff material? AT 5-2? .... I don't see them losing the AFC East unless they really start to fall apart on defense.

IMO This weeks matchup is a must win because if the Dolphins come to Foxboro and win we may be finally seeing a changing of the guard in the division...but i can't see this team playing another pathetic flat game at home.

 

[patsfan-1982]

its the playoffs the #5 and #6 seed could be jets and bangles or KC and ravens... bottom line the pats will face a good team who ever it is and if they don't bring there A game they will be one and done

 

[Harrisoned!]

Even the 2-seed looks like it will be tough to get. They'll be competing with Indy and Cincinnati most likely. Cincinnati has the tiebreaker on the Pats, while Indy has the benefit of playing some awful teams the rest of the way: Houston 2x, Rams w/o Bradford, Cards, Titans 2x, and Jaguars.

 

[Brady'sArmy]

getting way too ahead of ourselves, this team has a lot of things it needs to correct and some of the problems I don't even see internal solutions for. As it stands I don't see this team competing for the superbowl regardless of the path

 

[Ring 6]

Even the 2-seed looks like it will be tough to get. They'll be competing with Indy and Cincinnati most likely. Cincinnati has the tiebreaker on the Pats, while Indy has the benefit of playing some awful teams the rest of the way: Houston 2x, Rams w/o Bradford, Cards, Titans 2x, and Jaguars.

Our schedule is no less favorable than theirs. We have one team left that could be considered good.

 

[QB12]

getting way too ahead of ourselves, this team has a lot of things it needs to correct and some of the problems I don't even see internal solutions for. As it stands I don't see this team competing for the superbowl regardless of the path

So, are you bidding adieu?

 

[hwc]

Playoffs? Playoffs? Don't talk to me about playoffs. We're just trying to win a game... :rocker:

 

[Brady'sArmy]

So, are you bidding adieu?

no I will still watch and root for the team but I'm not gonna contemplate playoffs paths right now

 

[ALP]

Give me a healthy pats team and seed be damned

 

[SVN]

i just want them to win the division. do give a damn how and what seed right now? too inconsistent of a team on offense

 

[JarOfMayo51]

This team is so far from playoff material that I'm not worried about seeding at this point. If they improve markedly I'll get excited.

This exactly..


That Jets game was a very, very big game. That put the Jets and Dolphins 1 game behind the Patriots and we still have 2 games to go against the Dolphins who could very likely split with us and then 1 more against the Bills.

This division is nowhere even close to a lock and it could turn into another 2008 where a 10-6 or 11-5 record isnt even good enough to get into the post season.


This team has so many issues now its not even funny. We use to be able to say, well hey at least the D is playing lights out! That isnt the case anymore.. Losses to Wilfork and Mayo, the only 2 defensive captains, and the lingering issues with Talib and Tommy Kelly have brought this defense back down to mediocrity that allowed a Jets team to control the ball for like 45 minutes and march up and down the field against us.

Very, very worrisome... I don't think its realistic at all to expect the Patriots to be getting the #2 seed. I'd just be happy with a playoff birth at this point, but given the ineptness of the offense combined with the severe losses on defense and I do not have the confidence in this team that I had 2-3 weeks ago.

There is such a thing as just sustaining too many injuries to key players, at least to remain competitive in the post season against the best of the best. There are a lot more potent offenses out there than the mighty NY Jets and they made it look easy on some of those drives.

 

[fnordcircle]

lmao. 5-2. Leading our division, our playoff seeding still very much in the Patriots' control.

"not a playoff team"

Quick, someone tell that to the 2007/2011 Giants.

This is a team that will get better as the season wears on. Already the rookie receivers are showing a lot of promise and when Gronk, Amendola, Collie, Vereen, Edelman are all on the field together it's going to be tough to cover.

Some key injuries, no doubt, but I'm excited about our rookie DTs and what we can get from our rookie pass rushers.

People saying this isn't a playoff team are just more 2007 spoiled brats.

 

[kennyb]

Far from playoff material? AT 5-2? .... I don't see them losing the AFC East unless they really start to fall apart on defense.

IMO This weeks matchup is a must win because if the Dolphins come to Foxboro and win we may be finally seeing a changing of the guard in the division...but i can't see this team playing another pathetic flat game at home.

I didn't say that well. I'm sure they'll make the playoffs but unless they improve, they won't go far. So not much point worrying about it now.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

This exactly..


That Jets game was a very, very big game. That put the Jets and Dolphins 1 game behind the Patriots and we still have 2 games to go against the Dolphins who could very likely split with us and then 1 more against the Bills.

This division is nowhere even close to a lock and it could turn into another 2008 where a 10-6 or 11-5 record isnt even good enough to get into the post season.


This team has so many issues now its not even funny. We use to be able to say, well hey at least the D is playing lights out! That isnt the case anymore.. Losses to Wilfork and Mayo, the only 2 defensive captains, and the lingering issues with Talib and Tommy Kelly have brought this defense back down to mediocrity that allowed a Jets team to control the ball for like 45 minutes and march up and down the field against us.

Very, very worrisome... I don't think its realistic at all to expect the Patriots to be getting the #2 seed. I'd just be happy with a playoff birth at this point, but given the ineptness of the offense combined with the severe losses on defense and I do not have the confidence in this team that I had 2-3 weeks ago.

There is such a thing as just sustaining too many injuries to key players, at least to remain competitive in the post season against the best of the best. There are a lot more potent offenses out there than the mighty NY Jets and they made it look easy on some of those drives.

So we get gronk and amendola back, talib back and we aren't that good? The inept or the offense is because we were missing too many key pieces. Now that we have 2 of the 3 back on offense, we should be ready to click. In these 2 losses, there were opportunities to score. In the jets game, had gronk not lost the ball in the sun, that's a sure TD. Then on the final drive, if he holds onto the pass, he almost scores a sure TD there.

In Cincy, bolden dropped a well ran screen, maybe for a TD. If Dobson hadn't had a rookie mistake running Brady's long pass, he makes it into the endzone. And finally, if we didn't get the bad luck of the rain, we might have a chance to get a TD. We have had plenty of chances to win the 2 games we lost. We didn't execute. We have all the playmakers, its getting on the same page and executing. Look for the return of gronk and amendola to have a big effect. Tom will actually have 2 receivers that are vets and should know what to do. This lightens the rookies load and gets them more favorable matchups. But 1 thing for sure is the oline hasn't been as good.

 

[QB12]

This exactly..


That Jets game was a very, very big game. That put the Jets and Dolphins 1 game behind the Patriots and we still have 2 games to go against the Dolphins who could very likely split with us and then 1 more against the Bills.

This division is nowhere even close to a lock and it could turn into another 2008 where a 10-6 or 11-5 record isnt even good enough to get into the post season.


This team has so many issues now its not even funny. We use to be able to say, well hey at least the D is playing lights out! That isnt the case anymore.. Losses to Wilfork and Mayo, the only 2 defensive captains, and the lingering issues with Talib and Tommy Kelly have brought this defense back down to mediocrity that allowed a Jets team to control the ball for like 45 minutes and march up and down the field against us.

Very, very worrisome... I don't think its realistic at all to expect the Patriots to be getting the #2 seed. I'd just be happy with a playoff birth at this point, but given the ineptness of the offense combined with the severe losses on defense and I do not have the confidence in this team that I had 2-3 weeks ago.

There is such a thing as just sustaining too many injuries to key players, at least to remain competitive in the post season against the best of the best. There are a lot more potent offenses out there than the mighty NY Jets and they made it look easy on some of those drives.

I think JarofMayo has hit the BottleofSauce

 

[supafly]

I wouldn't be counting DEN out of winning their division and grabbing the number 1 seed, just b/c they lost one game and KC beat the lowly Texans by a point. Eventually, KC is going to lose 3-4 games due to their inability to score points against top level competition. To this point they haven't played anyone.

Hell no, I don't think the Broncos lose their division and end up the #5. No way.

In the meantime, our chances in NE of getting the #2 seed are going to depend on whether or not they go into the bye with 2 straight victories and a 7-2 record. If they can beat both MIA and PIT prior to the bye, we've got a damn good shot at finishing 12-4 and being right in the mix for the #2 seed.

If they split these next 2 vs MIA and PIT, they'll fall to 6-3 and will likely be looking at an 11-5 or so record. That may not be enough to get the first round bye with IND and CIN looking pretty good at 5-2 right now.