I don't see much help this week for getting back in the #2 seed race

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Bad week for New England to try and get back in the race for the #2 seed,There could not be easier opponents to squash for those teams that are ahead of us for the #2 and #3 seeds for at least this week so for those looking for the Patriots to close the gap will wait at least another week barring
those two teams failing to show up for the game.

SAN DIEGO at CLEVELAND .....
DETROIT at CINCINNATI .....

even the Jets should not have much of a hard time tonight vs. the Bills

Time for New England to start beating some teams and hope the other teams ahead of us have some serious competition...this week they might as well have the week off with the lame teams they face.

 

[102 Pat]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions beat the Bengals. Since the Bengals lost to the Raiders, it makes me wonder if there due for another clunker. But, yeah, hades will probably have to freeze over for the Browns to even make it not a blowout...

 

[denverpatsfan]

They needed to close out the Colts. Then the loss to the Saints however ugly would not have mattered.

Now realistically the Pats need to concentrate on winning a tough road game against the Fish this Sunday and the Bills. Hold serve at home against the Jags and Panthers. Who knows what teams will show up in Houston the last week of the season. let's hope the Pats can rest starters and don't have to play hard to win.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Both have a few tough opponents coming up.
Bengals are @ the Vikings in two weeks and then they are @ the Chargers.
The Chargers are @ the Cowboys in two weeks, then the Bengals come to town, then they go to the Titans.

The one game is head to head, so one of the two will draw equal to the Pats.

IMHO, I could see the Bengals losing to both the Vikes and the Chargers, and see the Chargers losing one of the two road games.

 

[Patspsycho]

Bad week for New England to try and get back in the race for the #2 seed,There could not be easier opponents to squash for those teams that are ahead of us for the #2 and #3 seeds for at least this week so for those looking for the Patriots to close the gap will wait at least another week barring
those two teams failing to show up for the game.

SAN DIEGO at CLEVELAND .....
DETROIT at CINCINNATI .....

even the Jets should not have much of a hard time tonight vs. the Bills

Time for New England to start beating some teams and hope the other teams ahead of us have some serious competition...this week they might as well have the week off with the lame teams they face.

You're forgetting Bengals go to Minnesota, and Bengals will play Chargers so one of them will get the lower seed.

If we win in Miami, we are in very good position for #2 seed.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

You're forgetting Bengals go to Minnesota, and Bengals will play Chargers so one of them will get the lower seed.

If we win in Miami, we are in very good position for #2 seed.

While that is correct, the nature of this thread is pretty much to emphasize that unless there is a big upset I think things remain just as they are right now in terms of AFC standings - The Jets,Patriots,Chargers and Bengals should all win thier games and remain as-is until next week when things get tougher for the teams above us.

 

[ivanvamp]

Bad week for New England to try and get back in the race for the #2 seed,There could not be easier opponents to squash for those teams that are ahead of us for the #2 and #3 seeds for at least this week so for those looking for the Patriots to close the gap will wait at least another week barring
those two teams failing to show up for the game.

SAN DIEGO at CLEVELAND .....
DETROIT at CINCINNATI .....

even the Jets should not have much of a hard time tonight vs. the Bills

Time for New England to start beating some teams and hope the other teams ahead of us have some serious competition...this week they might as well have the week off with the lame teams they face.

With all due respect, the Pats just better worry about beating Miami. A loss there and the division is very much up for grabs.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

With all due respect, the Pats just better worry about beating Miami. A loss there and the division is very much up for grabs.

I thought Miami would have a very good chance at beating New England before Ronnie Brown went down...
We should win convincingly but Nothing is a given but if Ricky Williams and Pat White kill us on the Wildcat and Chad Henne lights it up then we don't belong in the playoffs to begin with.

 

[Rob0729]

All the Pats can do is win out and then hope other teams help them out. They lost control of their own destiny on Monday night and won't get it back at least until Cincy, Denver, and San Deigo lose another game.

You can driven mad looking at the playoff race week after week.

 

[PatsfanGlo]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Lions beat the Bengals. Since the Bengals lost to the Raiders, it makes me wonder if there due for another clunker. But, yeah, hades will probably have to freeze over for the Browns to even make it not a blowout...

Totally agree with this....with Bungles, just about anything is possible but Lions are in totally different kind of suck compared to Raiders. I just wish Chargers have their annual meltdown at some point.

 

[JSn]

even the Jets should not have much of a hard time tonight vs. the Bills

Speaking of which I KNEW Southern Ontario smelled worse than usual today, couldn't figure out why... :ugh:

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

All the Pats can do is win out and then hope other teams help them out. They lost control of their own destiny on Monday night and won't get it back at least until Cincy, Denver, and San Deigo lose another game.

You can driven mad looking at the playoff race week after week.

Denver is irrelevent at this time unless you think they win the West,There will be only one playoff team from the AFC East and I seriously doubt Denver will catch San Diego,Denver is on the path to 9-7 or 10-6 which is a wild card slot at best,The Pats either win the East or watch the playoffs on TV again.

If I had to pick a team to play if NE gets the wild card round and 3rd seed it would be the Broncos,I think we kill them in Foxboro and then hopefully on to Cincy where the Bengals do not scare me.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Totally agree with this....with Bungles, just about anything is possible but Lions are in totally different kind of suck compared to Raiders. I just wish Chargers have their annual meltdown at some point.

I laughed when I read that the Lions were not even capable of beating the Browns in 4 quarters...they really didn't when you realize it was a PI call at 0:00

 

[The Intimidator]

Looking at the schedules, I can see this happening. Here are the two team's remaining schedules.

Chargers:
Week 13 Sun. Dec. 6 @ Browns*
Week 14 Sun. Dec. 13@ Cowboys*
Week 15 Sun. Dec. 20 Bengals
Week 16 Fri. Dec. 25 @ Titans
Week 17 Sun. Jan. 3 Redskins*

Besides the Browns, this is going to be a very tough schedule. The Titans are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now and the Redskins have been playing better as of late. Though, I expect the Redskins to have the RVS running in the back by that time. Cowboys and Bengal games will be very tough for them. I can see at least one loss on here.


Bengals:
Sun., Dec. 6 DETROIT 1 p.m.*
Sun., Dec. 13 at Minnesota 1 p.m.*
Sun., Dec. 20 at San Diego 4:05 p.m.*
Sun., Dec. 27 KANSAS CITY 1 p.m.*
Sun., Jan. 3 at N.Y. Jets 1 p.m.*

I have a strong feeling they will lose at Minnesota and have a very tough game on the road at San Diego, which will help us either way for the Bye.

With these schedules, and with the Patriots schedule, I could see us getting the bye, but I dont think it is a given that we win out. We have a tough game the last game vs the Texas and a tough game down in Miami where we never seem to play with. However, looking at the schedules if we win out, it is pretty safe to say that we will get the #2 seed.

The Chargers are 6-3 in the AFC
2-2 vs common opponents with a game vs the Titans.
The Bengals are 7-3 in the AFC
1-2 vs common opponents with the Patriots still having to play the Texans.

The Patriots are 7-3 in the AFC

Looking at this, we have the tie breaker vs the Bengals currently if it is a tie at the end of the year. We are tied currently with the Chargers in tie breakers, with a huge game vs the Titans to decide common opponents.

How I look at it, we win out, we get the #2 seed looking at this. I don't see either of these teams winning out.

 

[Rob0729]

Denver is irrelevent at this time unless you think they win the West,There will be only one playoff team from the AFC East and I seriously doubt Denver will catch San Diego,Denver is on the path to 9-7 or 10-6 which is a wild card slot at best,The Pats either win the East or watch the playoffs on TV again.

If I had to pick a team to play if NE gets the wild card round and 3rd seed it would be the Broncos,I think we kill them in Foxboro and then hopefully on to Cincy where the Bengals do not scare me.

Well, at this point, the Broncos aren't out of it and they could win out and still win the West. If the Broncos and Pats are both 12-4, the Broncos win the tiebreaker.

I wouldn't count out Denver either. At 7-4, they only two tough games left.

 

[Feep50]

All the Pats can do is win out and then hope other teams help them out. They lost control of their own destiny on Monday night and won't get it back at least until Cincy, Denver, and San Deigo lose another game.

You can driven mad looking at the playoff race week after week.

This is all that matters. We have to win. Winning games solves all problems. Looking for other teams to lose if not any fun at all. The patriots just need to win there remaining games. Simple as that.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Just read on a column from Reiss is that the Dolphins game is very important to the Patriots with more at stake than just the division lead

IF The Chargers and Patriots have the same conference record and it comes down to common opponents ,the Patriots win over the Dolphins would give the tiebreaker edge to the Pats in that regards.

 

[Jimke]

On Monday night, I watched the Patriots get the snot knocked out of

them and you folks are talking about them getting the 2nd seed in the

playoffs. If the Patriots lose to the Dolphins, they will have a one game

lead with four games to go. Anything will be possible if this occurs.

Any team with a half decent quarterback (Delhomme included) may

pick that Swiss cheese defensive backfield apart.

 

[VJCPatriot]

All the Pats can do is win out and then hope other teams help them out. They lost control of their own destiny on Monday night and won't get it back at least until Cincy, Denver, and San Deigo lose another game.

You can driven mad looking at the playoff race week after week.

That's not true. If the Pats win the division they control their destiny for the playoffs. that means beating both miami and buffalo in their remaining divisional games. they can lose all the others and still win the division outright which guarantees them a playoff berth.

As for the seeding, I could care less right now. That went out the window with back to back losses to the Colts and Saints. I'd be content with this defense pulling itself together and looking like a respectable unit again. Because we WILL need the defense when it comes time for the playoffs.