All favorites won last weekend, so undoubtedly at least one favorite is going down this weekend. Denver? Probably not because Baltimore's going to be called for 15 penalties and Dever'll get a bunch of first downs via penalty/have drives extended via penalty. SF? Solid possibility of GB winning. ATL? Lots of people have Seattle in this one, but every year there's a wild card team that plays lights out and everyone hops on and picks them to upset a 1 or 2 seed - this year it's Seattle - and then they lose on the road. I say Atlanta wins, and wins easily. This leaves the Patriots. No one's talking about Houston having a chance. Then we have this azzhat from the Globe write that article. We have the 2010 scenario. Then we have the recent history of the Pats failing, more often than not, in close games against "good" teams. Playoff games are usually close, especially in the Div/Champ round. Last year, yes, the Pats beat Bal in a close game - kudos on that one. But recently v "good" teams...2012 - loss to seattle, loss to sf, loss to baltimore - all one possession games. 2011 - loss to NYG in reg season, loss to Pittsburgh, and playoff loss to ahem, the NYG - all one score games....that baltimore afc title game was a huge anomaly - pats turned it over three times (to baltimore's one) yet still won the game....thanks sterling moore...
anyway, close games vs GOOD teams are not the Patriots forte - sure, a divisonal rd game vs an 8-8 denver, easy 35 pt win...but more often than not the Patriots have threw up all over themselves against good teams in the playoffs AND regular season when they're A.) trying to win a game with a fg or td (especially a td - when was the last time the Pats scored a TD inside two minutes against a GOOD team to win a game?) or B.) trying to stop an opponent from scoring winning points on a drive inside 2 or 3 minutes left. Lets hope Sunday the Patriots can play a mistake free game and can create several turnovers into points. They're going to need it because recent history tells us they have a very tough time in close games vs GOOD teams....
GO PATS!