11-5 may not be good enough

[borg]

AFC East currently has 3 teams bunched at 5-3
AFC North has 3 six win teams
AFC South has Texas 2 games up with 6-3 record
AFC West is brutal with 3 four win teams.

Looks like the East and North have 6 teams competing for 4 spots. Interesting how 4 of these 6 teams are defense first teams...Pitt, Cincy, Balt, Jets
Cincy has a brutal upcoming schedule with 4 games vs Pitt/Balt plus a date with the Texans

 

[Patriots Nation NY]

isn't there like half a football season to be played out or is it getting late early?

 

[Sciz]

Solution: Do better than 11-5.

 

[Lansdowne]

It's possible that this year plays out the way 2008 did, but more than likely the second half of the season will separate the contenders from the pretenders. It will sort itself out.

 

[rojo8401]

Looking at the Pats remaining schedule I think 11-5 is being fairly realistic. Very soft teams after the Jets. The Pats should win the majority of those and if they don't... well, that's obviously indicative of something wrong deep down with the team (Brady).

In summary, even if the Pats lose to the Jets they should still be in the hunt in my opinion. The Jets do have a easy schedule as well though so that does make me nervous.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Don't out think yourself - if we win this week (big if) then the jesters have to do two games better than us the rest of the way and we have an easy schedule other than Philly. If we lose I think we're going down anyway but a win gives us a nice path unless we screw it up.

 

[borg]

Don't out think yourself - if we win this week (big if) then the jesters have to do two games better than us the rest of the way and we have an easy schedule other than Philly. If we lose I think we're going down anyway but a win gives us a nice path unless we screw it up.

Agreed....this is a must win

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Easy..Pats win..they have a pretty good road


Pats lose..they are going to need a team to step up and beat the jets because they will be in the drivers seat

 

[ausbacker]

The first thing the Patriots must take care of; win the remaining 3 AFC East divisional match-ups. Everything else can be worried about from there on.

 

[WhoaDirty]

Solution: Do better than 11-5.

Nope, the solution is win the division, because it doesn't matter what your record is if you win the division.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Definitely, this game is a must win. Lose to the Jets and they'll essentially have a 2 game lead on us. They'll most likely beat Buffalo and Miami later on giving them the tiebreaker over us.

We need this game, it's the game that's going to define our season. If we get it IMO we just need to split the KC/PHI games and hit the cake part of the schedule, no reason we shouldn't finish 12-4 and hopefully secure a bye.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Cincy has a brutal upcoming schedule with 4 games vs Pitt/Balt plus a date with the Texans

This probably gives you your answer. There won't be a WC from the South or West. Which means the 2 WC will be both from the North or, more likely, Cincy loses a good number and the East gets a WC which will likely be us or the Jets. Rooting against Cincy would be a good idea starting this week.

 

[ATippett56]

Playoffs?

Jim Mora Playoffs! - YouTube

 

[Dutchmaster617]

AFC East currently has 3 teams bunched at 5-3
AFC North has 3 six win teams
AFC South has Texas 2 games up with 6-3 record
AFC West is brutal with 3 four win teams.

Looks like the East and North have 6 teams competing for 4 spots. Interesting how 4 of these 6 teams are defense first teams...Pitt, Cincy, Balt, Jets
Cincy has a brutal upcoming schedule with 4 games vs Pitt/Balt plus a date with the Texans

Please do tell, what makes 11-5 guaranteed? You can't prove that we win even one more game from here on out, not throwing my opinion out but just the fact that we have to wait and see. That also goes for predicting teams like Cincy to win 12 games.

 

[Modest]

This team just lost against a Giants team that was decimated by injuries early in the season and without their 2 main offensive weapons. I wouldn't be penciling in any wins against ANY of the teams upcoming on our schedule.

 

[Rob0729]

I can almost guarantee you that 11-5 will get you in the playoffs. We are half way through the season and only two teams in the conference has less than three losses.

The AFC West have three teams at .500. Every team in that division should get at least two losses.

The AFC South has one team with only 3 losses.

All of the AFC East teams play each other again guaranteeing at least two of them getting one more loss and one of those getting a fifth loss between the three.

It is statistically possible that 11-5 won't get you into the playoffs, but odds are good that it will. The way teams have been up and down this season, it is almost a given.

 

[supafly]

I can almost guarantee you that 11-5 will get you in the playoffs. We are half way through the season and only two teams in the conference has less than three losses.

The AFC West have three teams at .500. Every team in that division should get at least two losses.

The AFC South has one team with only 3 losses.

All of the AFC East teams play each other again guaranteeing at least two of them getting one more loss and one of those getting a fifth loss between the three.

It is statistically possible that 11-5 won't get you into the playoffs, but odds are good that it will. The way teams have been up and down this season, it is almost a given.

Good points. For those that are already worrying, last year's parity looked just as bad, possibly worse, and it sorted it self out just like any other year. Many predicted that 11-5 wouldn't get you in, yet it's only happened once (2008 NEP) in the modern 16 game era.

A win vs the NYJ goes a long, long way towards keeping us in the hunt.

 

[farouche]

This probably gives you your answer.

Does it? Cincy always does well against the rest of the AFC North; Marvin Lewis is 12-8 lifetime against Baltimore, and the Bengals swept their division two years ago with an inferior team. People keep talking about Cincy's wins over weak teams, but Pittsburgh's wins are against teams with fewer wins than the Bengals! I realize that few people here are likely aware of that face, as those pesky facts always interfere with sports media narratives and are often ignored in favor of pompous windbaggery. I forget, is Tebow/Flacco/Eli the worst QB in football this week or the Second Coming?

In any case: The Bengals are the number one seed in the AFC halfway through the season, with a stellar defense, a balanced offense, and have been relatively injury-free to this point. If I were a betting man, I'd probably look elsewhere for teams likely to fade as the season wears on.

The most-troubled teams in the AFC on the 'would be in the playoffs if they happened today' list are the Chargers, Steelers, and (sadly) the Pats.

 

[jmt57]

Since 1990 54 teams have finished the regular season with an 11-5 record.

Of those 54 teams, only one did not qualify for the playoffs.

While it is factually correct that '11-5 may not be good enough' to make the playoffs, I seriously doubt that it will be the case this year.

 

[supafly]

Since 1990 54 teams have finished the regular season with an 11-5 record.

Of those 54 teams, only one did not qualify for the playoffs.
While it is factually correct that '11-5 may not be good enough' to make the playoffs, I seriously doubt that it will be the case this year.

Seeing that line in numeric value is quite depressing actually, lol.

The middle of a 5 yr run of weird luck/crazy scenarios, starting with the 06 AFCCG.