Pursuit of the Bye (1st Seed)

[Lambeau12]

Exceptional post! You hit on exactly why as a fan we should be confident against anyone we see regularl season and post season.. it starts with the COACHING. Houston essentially has an aggressive front thst loves to attack the edges.. the addition of OL Mumford will pay dividends being able to add an extra blocker to handle a Nik bonnitto or Hunter..

I also feel to much scrutiny is being put on the running game and not enough focus is on the big play abilities that Henderson has shown.. the Broncos love to play it overly aggressive on 3rd down they love to bring Hufanga the SS on blitzes.. Josh would see that and employ Henderson deep downfield..

Henry and Hooper I'm confident against any of thier LBs or safeties in coverage.. Henry has been having a stellar season..

Diggs draws surtain wich frees up Boutte, pop and Hollins to feast on thier other guys .

Root for us against Denver. We need the help.

 

[Huckleberry1]

If we end up with the two, it'll be a road of stingy defense lol. Bring it on. We have the better offense of both teams by a good deal and we have a comparable defense.

I assume they will have to beat best team's to win a Lombardi, bottom line is they will have to play their best football to make a run in the tournament no matter who they play or when.

 

[Ring 6]

The same reason teams rarely go on 15 game winning streaks, eventually you have an off day. I would rather have that off day occur during the regular season than in the playoffs. Only 4 teams in NFL history have done it.



Only one team
, the New England Patriots, (2003-2004), has achieved a 15+ game winning streak includingplayoffs, with their historic run reaching 21 consecutive wins, while teams like the Green Bay Packers (2010-11) and Chicago Bears (1933-34) also had long combined streaks, but none matched the Patriots' sustained dominance across regular season and postseason.
Longest Combined Winning Streaks (Regular Season & Playoffs)

• 21 Games: New England Patriots (2003-04)
• 19 Games: Green Bay Packers (2010-11)
• 18 Games: Chicago Bears (1933-34)

Losing another regular season game does not reduce the chances of losing a post season game.

 

[Patjew]

Losing another regular season game does not reduce the chances of losing a post season game.

Correct. Losing begets losing.

And the whole "it's hard to beat a team three times" is so played out.

 

[Real fan 02]

So, if all our players are healthy and at full strength, we can handle HOU. OK, I strongly agree.

Josh's mastery is devising schemes to deal with aggressive fronts.. I doubt we see Campbell back any time soon.. so V. Lowe will have to be given help.. I like the addition of Mumford he can be the extra lineman deployed like the giants game...

 

[n1997y]

I just think that eventually you have an off day, the breaks go against you and you slip and lose a game. It's possible you're on a roll that can't be denied but that's unlikely, and over 100 years of NFL history demonstrates how unlikely that is.

That thinking does not apply in the playoffs. Every playoff game is must-win. Lose and you go home until training camp. The only game that matters is the one you are facing right now. Past history doesn’t matter. It makes no difference if you are on a 15 game winning streak or a zero game winning streak coming in to the playoffs. Have a bad day and slip up you’re done.

Coming into the playoffs undefeated would add a lot of pressure, and would be tiring coming down the stretch run at the end of the regular season. But we don’t have that to deal with. The only real issue of a long winning streak might be fatigue but the late bye week mitigates that.

All I really care about at this point is going undefeated in the 2035 playoffs. I think winning out would be really cool, closing the season with an 18 game winning streak. I’d be okay with if they lost one of the last four regular season games as long as it didn’t impact their post season prospects. So, no loss if it costs the #1 seed. And I’d really like to see Buffalo on the outside looking in, so no loss this week. Don’t let Buffalo do anything to build confidence going into the playoffs, or they could be dangerous. That’s why it was bad for them to pull out a win over the Bengals. If they follow that up with a win in Foxboro they’re building momentum and that’s bad for us. We need to come out of our bye week focused on this game as though it’s a playoff game, with no room for any error.

 

[Huckleberry1]

That thinking does not apply in the playoffs. Every playoff game is must-win. Lose and you go home until training camp. The only game that matters is the one you are facing right now. Past history doesn’t matter. It makes no difference if you are on a 15 game winning streak or a zero game winning streak coming in to the playoffs. Have a bad day and slip up you’re done.

Coming into the playoffs undefeated would add a lot of pressure, and would be tiring coming down the stretch run at the end of the regular season. But we don’t have that to deal with. The only real issue of a long winning streak might be fatigue but the late bye week mitigates that.

All I really care about at this point is going undefeated in the 2035 playoffs. I think winning out would be really cool, closing the season with an 18 game winning streak. I’d be okay with if they lost one of the last four regular season games as long as it didn’t impact their post season prospects. So, no loss if it costs the #1 seed. And I’d really like to see Buffalo on the outside looking in, so no loss this week. Don’t let Buffalo do anything to build confidence going into the playoffs, or they could be dangerous. That’s why it was bad for them to pull out a win over the Bengals. If they follow that up with a win in Foxboro they’re building momentum and that’s bad for us. We need to come out of our bye week focused on this game as though it’s a playoff game, with no room for any error.

We disagree. Only a few teams have won more than 15 games in a row in over 100 years. If they go in on a winning streak so be it, imo they have had a great year no matter what happens and are way ahead of schedule.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Josh's mastery is devising schemes to deal with aggressive fronts.. I doubt we see Campbell back any time soon.. so V. Lowe will have to be given help.. I like the addition of Mumford he can be the extra lineman deployed like the giants game...

Do you have medical information the rest of us aren't privy to?

 

[Uptown]

 

[Brick27]

Parlaying ML for Bills and Broncos at +285. Content losing money for anything not that scenario and like paying for Pats wins in particular.

 

[patfanken]

Is the Bye critical? Just name the Superbowl we won without one? (I've asked the question before, and no one said anything, so I guess we've never won one before. The Bye is the biggest unfair advantage in football. It doesn't guarantee you a date at the dance, but it makes it a HELL of a lot easier to get there.

With 4 games left we are in good position to get one. We need a little bit of help (maybe this week), but I don't see the Bronc's winning out. They have 3 tough games (we have 2). I never thought we'd be in this position, but since we are, I hope we don't waste it.

 

[Gumby]

Exceptional post! You hit on exactly why as a fan we should be confident against anyone we see regularl season and post season.. it starts with the COACHING. Houston essentially has an aggressive front thst loves to attack the edges.. the addition of OL Mumford will pay dividends being able to add an extra blocker to handle a Nik bonnitto or Hunter..

I also feel to much scrutiny is being put on the running game and not enough focus is on the big play abilities that Henderson has shown.. the Broncos love to play it overly aggressive on 3rd down they love to bring Hufanga the SS on blitzes.. Josh would see that and employ Henderson deep downfield..

Henry and Hooper I'm confident against any of thier LBs or safeties in coverage.. Henry has been having a stellar season..

Diggs draws surtain wich frees up Boutte, pop and Hollins to feast on thier other guys .

So, if Campbell is back and you want the extra blocker on LEFT side…..

does MuNford play the true LT and you put Will outside?

- that might be wiser than the confusion we saw with WC getting chip help and then not being able to get the wider than normal outside rusher blocked.

 

[Gumby]

Is the Bye critical? Just name the Superbowl we won without one? (I've asked the question before, and no one said anything, so I guess we've never won one before. The Bye is the biggest unfair advantage in football. It doesn't guarantee you a date at the dance, but it makes it a HELL of a lot easier to get there.

With 4 games left we are in good position to get one. We need a little bit of help (maybe this week), but I don't see the Bronc's winning out. They have 3 tough games (we have 2). I never thought we'd be in this position, but since we are, I hope we don't waste it.

Im not sure as much how absolutely critical it is to winning the cCURRENT SB.

The biggest issue w extra game of course is any injuries in the extra game can derail you. That is biggest concern.

I think it as much a concern for LONG-TERM (the difference between 20 & 21 games rolling over into next season) as it is being able to win 4 games in a row versus 3 games in a row.

 

[Gumby]

Correct. Losing begets losing.

And the whole "it's hard to beat a team three times" is so played out.

Played out but I think it is true if you have GOOD COACHING (or at least better coaching) on the team that lost twice.

Rex Ryan was a better coach THAT DAY & week than BB. He had seen patriots twice and came out with a plan to do something different. It would be interesting to see analysis of I think it was a 10-6 record of 2-win teams facing a 3d time to see how many of those 6 wins [by 2-time losers] can be attributed to a coach with less talent but a better game plan.

Needless to say, I don’t trust Sean McDermott to out plan Vrabel- McDaniels.

 

[slash83]

Im confident if we win this weekend there’s a strong chance we end up with the 1 seed.

 

[Kargetina]

A lot of people fall for the gambler's fallacy when discussing winning streaks. It doesn't matter whether you have a winning streak of 2 or 15 games, the odds of losing a game are the same. You're not due a loss because you've been winning. Just like having 15 straight heads in a coin toss doesn't imply that tails is imminent, the streak doesn't have anything to do with the next throw of the coin.

If the argument is that a big winning streak necessitates more pressure, it's at the very least equalized by the confidence that such a streak inspires. Just compare the last two seasons by the Chiefs, when they were winning last season, they always made the right decisions in close games and won all of them. This year, the opposite is true, the more they've lost, the worst they've played and have been coached in must-win late game situations. The Pats started the year 1-2, losing to one of the worst teams in the league, beat the presumed AFC favorites, the Bills, and have played with the confidence of SB contenders ever since, and they've won every close game.

It's nothing but superstition. Losing a game to have dealt with the ''expected'' and inevitably incoming loss, doesn't, any shape or form, prevent losing the first game in the playoffs, just like going into the playoffs with a 15 win streak, doesn't increase the chances of a loss.

I'd rather the team win out, get the bye and be two home games away from the Super Bowl, rather than having to win three games against more difficult opponents, all without rest, for the same destination.

 

[obgod3]

I hate saying this but Im not sure either the broncos fans nor myself want either team to enter the playoffs with a 14/15 game win streak. I know the odds are the same, how did that 16-0 regular season work out? Saying that I also dont see the pats getting the #1, Denver needs to lose two and we need to win three. Not so sure about that.

 

[Kargetina]

I hate saying this but Im not sure either the broncos fans nor myself want either team to enter the playoffs with a 14/15 game win streak. I know the odds are the same, how did that 16-0 regular season work out? Saying that I also dont see the pats getting the #1, Denver needs to lose two and we need to win three. Not so sure about that.

You write that you know the odds are the same, but then you proceed to use one example, to extrapolate a general rule, based on superstition. The 2003 Pats went into the playoffs on a 12-win streak, how did that work out? The 2007 Pats were getting worse and worse by the season was ending, they weren't a dominant team getting into the playoffs, and losing a game prior to the playoffs wouldn't have changed anything. Not to mention that being 18-0, most certainly didn't influence Asante Samuel to drop a pick and bring 19-0 into reality.

The 2012 Pats were on an 8-win streak, lost a game in week 15, and finished the season with a two-win streak. That loss that stopped what would have been a 12-game win streak, helped them in the playoffs, right? No, they got stomped by the Ravens 28-13. The 2017 Patriots were also on an 8-game win streak, lost to Dolphins in week 14, won the remaining 3 games, then played awfully against the Jags at home and barely won, and lost the SB to Nick Foles.

Every game in the playoffs is a season-in-itself, the strategy, performance, bounce of the ball, have absolutely nothing to do with whether you've entered the playoffs on a 10-win streak, or a 2-win streak. It's nothing but a faulty reasoning, the more they win, the more you think they're due a loss, but that's not how the world works. Losing a game doesn't mean that you've gotten rid of the due ''bad bounce of the ball game''. It doesn't mean anything at all.

Anyone hoping for a loss, is being irrational, and that's about it.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Im confident if we win this weekend there’s a strong chance we end up with the 1 seed.

I actually feel like win or lose, if we come out of Sunday tied with denver we’re in good shape. Our last 3 opponents vs their last 3 is a massive advantage. Still expecting bmore and Miami to be reasonably tough but games we should absolutely win with whats at stake

 

[40yrpatsfan]

If Den & Buf win tomorrow, we're obviously screwed as far as the #1 seed. But Denver isn't gonna win tomorrow, nor at KC. So if GB & Buf win tomorrow, I think we'll still be the #1 seed by winning our last 3.