Potential Playoff Seeding

[ivanvamp]

You know what would suck? If the Pats finish 12-4 (tied for the best record in the league) but finish 2nd in the division due to some 3rd or 4th tier tiebreaker. Thus they get the #5 seed.

But then Indy finishes 9-7 and wins the AFC South and gets the #4 seed.

Then, despite the difference in record and the Pats' head-to-head victory over the Colts, NE would have to travel to Indy in the first round of the playoffs.

This, by the way, is actually quite feasible.

 

[A.C Vegas]

The reality of that is harder then you think simply because the pats have to play the Jets again and if they beat them they would have a one game lead and If the Pats do beat them i really don't see them losing another game they have 3 NFC teams and the 3 East teams left this season and I don't think the Jets will sweep them the Dolphins are banged up to near death and the Bills are the Bills.

The Lions get up for Thanksgiving but just don't have the talent with out Stafford The Bears are over rated Green Bay will be a challenge.

I see the Pats being 13-3 or 14-2 at the end of the year but not losing to the jets

 

[Kulko]

So whats new? Its hardly the frist time it happened and will definitely not be the last.

The League should seed by record only, Especially with this 4 division setup, but I assume thats not in the interest of the average teams, so it doesnt get a majority.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If we beat the Jets and finish tied with them I am about 99% sure we will get the tiebreak over them (as long as one of our losses isn't Buffalo or Miami). AFC record and common opponents will be the same or in our favor in the above scenario. Common opponents are all the same except for Indy and SD, so even if the tiebreak goes to strength of victory, Indy and SD will most likely trump Denver and Houston for them. Also Baltimore trumps Cleveland in that category, all favor us barring a really unexpected finish.

 

[scout]

The reality of that is harder then you think simply because the pats have to play the Jets again and if they beat them they would have a one game lead and If the Pats do beat them i really don't see them losing another game they have 3 NFC teams and the 3 East teams left this season and I don't think the Jets will sweep them the Dolphins are banged up to near death and the Bills are the Bills.

The Lions get up for Thanksgiving but just don't have the talent with out Stafford The Bears are over rated Green Bay will be a challenge.

I see the Pats being 13-3 or 14-2 at the end of the year but not losing to the jets

Buffalo is a lot better then thier record, and shouldn't be taken lightly.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

So whats new? Its hardly the frist time it happened and will definitely not be the last.

The League should seed by record only, Especially with this 4 division setup, but I assume thats not in the interest of the average teams, so it doesnt get a majority.

Amen. Take a look at the NFC. Right now one of those 7-3 teams would be out of the playoffs while a 5-5 stinker like Seattle would make it as a division champ.....

 

[everlong]

The Pats simply have to beat the Jets. Traveling to either Indy or SD as the 5 seed isn't pretty.

 

[serifyn]

The Jets have 2 extremely difficult games left in patriots and steelers and another game at the bears which they share with the patriots, other than that, i fully expect the jets to handle the bengals, dolphins and bills, although one of those is bound to be close and i just dont know how much more luck the jets have.

The Patriots with the Colts off the board with a W (thank god for that), have to handle a sporadic lions team on a short week. on the road, assuming that the patriots win, they get what would be the biggest game of the year with the jets at Gillette. on MNF, then later in the year the patriots will also play the packers in gillette.

If the patriots beat the jets, it will be difficult for them to recover and vice versa, because even if you lose to the packers, there is a good chance the jets lose to the steelers, but the tiebreaker that the jets would gain or lose would likely determine who is 1 or 5 seed.

The bears are obviously a wildcard game and it certainly isnt a gimmie for either team.

 

[Sivy]

Buffalo is a lot better then thier record, and shouldn't be taken lightly.

No, they are not...they suck

 

[WelshPat]

So whats new? Its hardly the frist time it happened and will definitely not be the last.

The League should seed by record only, Especially with this 4 division setup, but I assume thats not in the interest of the average teams, so it doesnt get a majority.

But then why have divisions?

 

[FCB02062]

The Patriots SHOULD have a bye on the line when they play their last two games, barring some crazy losing streak. Take care of business in Detroit on Thanksgiving, then it's the game of all regular season games with first place in the AFC AND first place in the conference up for grabs on Monday night - how much hype will ESPN put into that game? Even if the pats lose to Detroit and NYJ wins on Thanksgiving, the Pats can still get first with a win on Monday night against the NYJ...cannot wait...

 

[Kulko]

But then why have divisions?

Because they build rivalries. Also the Division champs will still be qualified automatically, but they will be placed where they belong.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

lets not get ahead of our selves here still 6 big games ahead but yes..the jets hame will decide who is first in the division at the end of the year IMO...i really dont want to go to indy or SD as a wildcard so we have to beat the jets

 

[PatriotsInGA]

People, we still have to beat the Lions! BB would not be proud of any of you. . Take one game at a time.

 

[blackglass3]

The suits at ESPN must have raging hard on's, given how huge that Monday Nighter will be. That could very well be the highest rated MNF in history.

 

[upstater1]

Very hard to believe that this team has defeated San Diego, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, and yet, they could be looking at the 5 seed.

UNREAL!

 

[mgteich]

Personally, I think it would suck for a team to win a division and not have a home game.

I think the divisions are the backbone of the current nfl structure. Winning the division should be a big thing. The team and fans should get a home playoff game by winning the division.

Wildcards are just that. They are way to allow teams who FAILED to win their division to have a way to the Super Bowl. The old way with 3 divisions made the wildcards playoff in order to win a place in the playoffs seemed to make logical sense, although the current system is fine with me.

 

[Wax Frog]

Very hard to believe that this team has defeated San Diego, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, and yet, they could be looking at the 5 seed.

UNREAL!

I look at it as "punishment" for not beating the Green Slime in round 1...

 

[sbpatfan]

So whats new? Its hardly the frist time it happened and will definitely not be the last.

The League should seed by record only, Especially with this 4 division setup, but I assume thats not in the interest of the average teams, so it doesnt get a majority.

If they seeded by record it would greatly diminish divisional rivalries. People (and the league) enjoy rivalry games with high stakes. Kind of like the game coming up on December 4th, for example...

 

[mgteich]

What is unreal is a team that can't win its division whining about what seed they get.

Some think that winning a division should be the only way into the playoffs. We've added wild cards for the deserving teams that had a great season but somehow failed.
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The reality is that the patriots have won or tied for the division for the past 10 years, missing the playoffs twice on tiebreakers. The current system works fine for the patriots.

Very hard to believe that this team has defeated San Diego, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, and yet, they could be looking at the 5 seed.

UNREAL!