Potential Playoff Seeding

[BradyManny]

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

So true.

It all comes down to the Jets game. Well, first we have to beat the Lions - but we can NOT lose to the Jets and expect to be hosting a game come January. I still think the Jets are a moderately fraudulent team with an overrated defense, but it may not catch up to them until the playoffs.

 

[upstater1]

Now, the more I think of it, Patriots' fan have to really gird themselves. Only Buffalo and Miami will be gimme games from here on in.

1. Detroit on T-giving? Wildcard game, anything can happen.
2. Jets game will be the big battle
3. Short week at 7-3 Chicago? BRUTAL hard hitting game in the cold--Patriots should win but it will be a war.
4. The 2nd best team in football comes to Foxboro for a Sunday night game a week later. Thank God it's a Sunday night game because the Patriots need to focus. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay aerial attack are the second most challenging offense in the league this year after the Chargers (and ahead of the Colts). Green Bay is someone prone to mistakes, but it will be a very tough game especially because Green Bay has a decent defense.

This schedule rivals the 2007 schedule.

You have to be kidding me: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Jets x 2, Indianapolis, Green Bay.

7 games against the cream of the crop in the NFL.

TOUGH!

 

[Fball]

So true.

It all comes down to the Jets game. Well, first we have to beat the Lions - but we can NOT lose to the Jets and expect to be hosting a game come January. I still think the Jets are a moderately fraudulent team with an overrated defense, but it may not catch up to them until the playoffs.

That's sort of the conventional wisdom, but I don't think there is a lot of truth to it. I live in the NYC area & see most of their game. Sanchez has definitely emerged as a very solid QB; not in the elite, but he has real weapons & can be very accurate, and has played fairly mistake-free football. Their defense is also pretty real.

The reason the perception has been created about the Jets is that they have a hard time closing out games they should be winning easily. I think Ryan is a decent coach, and very good as far as motivating, but he makes some crazy in-game blunders at times that come close to giving otherwise easy wins away...

 

[upstater1]

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.
==========

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.

It's not whining, no matter that yopu want to characterize it as such. It's just a comment about a tough schedule and a better record.

Have you looked at Indy's schedule? Philly and San Diego and THAT'S IT!!!!!

I'm not even against the current set-up. Just saying that tough schedule + better record should mean something.

Think about it: Theoretically, the Jets and Patriots could be the best two teams in the NFL. And the Patriots could finish 13-3 and in 2nd place even with a win over the Jets. Theoretically, they could end up playing a team with a losing record.

I don't care if you or I prefer the current setup, but you simply CANNOT defend the statement that the 7-9 team does not DESERVE to host a 13-3 team.

It's simply indefensible.

 

[jmt57]

This is why coaches like Belichick put so much emphasis on winning the division. We as fans often look beyond that, but winning the division guarantees you a home playoff game.

Even though the current setup can occasionally create some questions as to whether or not it is the best format - for example in 2008 when 8-8 San Diego had a home playoff game while 11-5 New England missed the playoffs - I would still prefer the system as it is now. You get rivalries, plus winning the division actually means something. Besides, that good team that does not win the division still has not one, but two more chances to make the playoffs.

So despite the wins against very good teams the past two weeks, every one of the remaining games is still very important. Right now it's starting to look like the AFCE division winner will get a bye while the second place team will have to go on the road, and play an extra game to get to the Super Bowl.

There are still six games left to be played. More often than not by the end of the season things work themselves out, and the best teams are in the playoffs and playing at home. It is very unusual for the league or conference's second best team to be a wildcard team. My guess is that by the end of the season there won't be as many people looking for a change to the playoff seeding format.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It's been said but it's pretty simple to me.

If the Jets go 4-2 but lose to NE and Pitt and the Pats got 4-2 and win their conf games AND lose 1 of the 3 NFC North games, Pats win the div and get most likely the #1 seed.

 

[TruthSeeker]

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

You do realize, I hope, that if the Pats beat the Jets and they both finish at 13-3 that the Jets could easily win the tiebreaker (if, for example, the Patriots loss was in conference).

Yes, if the Patriots finish 14-2 there are no worries.

 

[BradyManny]

That's sort of the conventional wisdom, but I don't think there is a lot of truth to it. I live in the NYC area & see most of their game. Sanchez has definitely emerged as a very solid QB; not in the elite, but he has real weapons & can be very accurate, and has played fairly mistake-free football. Their defense is also pretty real.

The reason the perception has been created about the Jets is that they have a hard time closing out games they should be winning easily. I think Ryan is a decent coach, and very good as far as motivating, but he makes some crazy in-game blunders at times that come close to giving otherwise easy wins away...

Sanchez has improved dramatically, no doubt - he is great for some heroics. But he is by no means a great QB, yet. He gets away with an awful lot of mistakes. He plays like a young Brett Favre in the making, which has worked towards his advantage of late, but could rear its ugly head.

As for the Jets in general, I just don't see the dominant defense I saw last year. Without a dominant defense, that offense is not special enough to win it all. Holmes is an absolute beast, but even with that and Sanchez' marked improvement, unless that D becomes elite again, the team isn't elite.

Nothing would shock me with the Jets. They could win out with some more ridiculous endings. Or, they could, quite realistically, lose 3 of their next 5.

 

[pheenix11]

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.

Wow you're right, that would suck royally. The Jet game is huge, we have to win. No more playoff trips to that shythole dome in Indy

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

You know what would suck?

If after every WIN this board was filled with negitive posts.

 

[scout]

No, they are not...they suck

Buffalo: Pats beat them 38-30 at New England, that alone should tell you different.
They lost to Miami 15-10
Lost to divisional leader Jags 36-26
Lost to Ravens 37-34 OT
Lost to Chiefs 13-10 OT
Lost to Bears 22-19
Beat Detroit
Beat Cincy
Yea, their just your typical two win team.

 

[D-Money]

Too early to talk playoff seeding but that Jets game is looking large now.I think the game should matter more to us.They are still undefeated in the division.

 

[Wolfpack]

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.

That set up would diminish the importance of divisional games, which the league does not want to do, so they are going to keep the current format. Right now the Jets-Patriots game could be the difference between a #1 seed and a #5 seed, which makes that game much more important than if it were merely the difference between the #1 seed and the #2 seed.

 

[Wolfpack]

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.

Ya they got lucky to get that one. NBC must be chewing nails since they would definitely have "flexed" it to Sunday night if it had been a Sunday game.

 

[Wolfpack]

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.

+1. And I don't think they should add a 3rd Wild Card.

 

[Deus Irae]

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.

Seeding by record, while using an unbalanced schedule, is no more 'fair' than the current system.

 

[Wolfpack]

This is why coaches like Belichick put so much emphasis on winning the division. We as fans often look beyond that, but winning the division guarantees you a home playoff game.

+1. All 4 teams in the same divsion will have 14 of their 16 games be in common, with only 2 games being different, so their strength of schedule will all be very similar.

People that oppose the current format are arguing unlikely hypotheticals to support their point. Well here's another hypothetical: Take the Steelers and the Ravens. Suppose in some hypothetical future season, they each have an extremely weak schedule, 2 games against Cleveland, 2 games against Cincy, they play a ridiculously weak AFC West and a ridiculously weak NFC West. So Pittsburgh wins the division at 14-2 and Baltimore goes 13-3.

Then suppose the Patriots have an incredibly tough schedule. The Jets and Phins are really good, the Bills are decent, they play a tough AFC South and a very tough NFC East. All those teams beat the crap out of each other and the Pats win the division at 11-5.

So who deserves the higher seed? Patriots or Ravens?

 

[SirApropos]

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

This is assuming Indy is the #4 seed. They have a brutal schedule coming up

San Diego (Always a good finisher towards the end of the year)
Dallas (Garrett has them turned around and are no longer an easy win)
@Tennesee (Thursday night game on short rest)
Jacksonville (Currently the divisional leader.)
@Oakland (Depends on which Raiders team shows up. West Coast game.)
Tenessee

I could easily see them going 3-3 or 2-4 here and if the losses are to Divsional opponents then they are done since they are 1-2 currently.

This may be Jacksonville's year.

 

[WhiZa]

How about going 11-5 and not making the playoffs in 2008? The system may be flawed, but as you see every year it's not about your record in the playoffs.

 

[aluminum seats]

Interesting thing about this year's playoff teams is that there's a good chance the Pats will have played, and beaten, all of them.

Personally, just to get WAY ahead of ourselves, I'd like the Pats to meet the Chiefs in the first round.