Poll: How Does the Rest of the Season Play Out?

[The Brandon Five]

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Based on this and the fact the Pats have 6 AFC games left I don't think 9 wins will get us to the playoffs anymore. Finishing 9-8 means the Pats went 2-4 in their last 6 games and their AFC record goes from the best in the conference to one that doesn't compare that well in tiebreakers.

Win 10 and that should be good enough. That means beating the teams they should beat like the Titans without Henry and Jags for sure and then one of (Bills, Bills, Colts, Dolphins)

This would be a really bad time for the Pats to start a losing streak.

Only team that has won all of their road games.

 

[mike_usagisan]

They win out...

This is how I feel right now. But every season I expect a perfect season, so my opinion doesn’t mean much.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

This is absolutely the worst 4-4 team in the league. Bill Belichick ought to go to Canada because he evades the draft. The only draft he can be happy at the end of is a beer and he's only happy with that because he knows he can piss it away and nobody will blame him. That's just for starters. Everybody on this team is the worst one there is. Suspect at Oline, WR, RB (way to go losing Michel), CB, safety, you name it. Quarterback still isn't Brady and by the way I was getting a little tired of HIS act too until he left. We're going to finish the worst 13-4 team in the league then play a TERRIBLE championship game we didn't deserve to win then win a Super Bowl but only because the better team didn't win it.

I'm right so far (if you don't count the tongue-in-cheek negs and previous posts with my "realistic" predictions, which I assure you were to throw you off from the true extent of my prognosticative prowess.)

Just wanted to enjoy it the next few days

AT LEAST!

 

[sb1]

Bills, Colts, Bills, Jags, Dolphins left

Wildcard race:

Bills 7-4
Bengals 7-4
Chargers 6-5
Broncos 6-5
Raiders 6-5
Browns 6-5 (6-6 if they lose tonight)
Colts 6-6
Dolphins 5-7

A 2-3 finish gets us to 10-7 which should get us to the playoffs with an ok AFC record and H2H tiebreakers over a few teams.

The only gimme for us is the Jags game, the others will be tough. A 1-4 finish would get us to 9-8 (my original prediction). I thought that record could get us in but looking at the standings above I don't think it will now. Gotta get to at least 10 and I think we will.

 

[sb1]

The favorites right now for the top seed in the AFC.
Ravens 23%, Titans (11%), Chiefs (9%).

 

[MAC10]

I don't think the Miami game is a gimme anymore with them playing so well in the last few weeks. We should be them and Jacksonville though. At worst this team goes 10-7.

 

[sb1]

If we beat the Bills it looks like we could have a playoff clinching scenario leading in to the Colts game.

Tried the ESPN playoff machine and had Pats going 2-0 in their next 2 games. In that scenario unless I made a mistake somewhere I can't get the Pats lower than the 7th seed at 10-7 even with the Dolphins winning out and the Chargers, Browns, Steelers, Titans and Raiders and Bills winning as many as possible. Some of those teams also play each other.

Edit: Forgot the Bengals. If they maximize their wins too then it looks like the worst case scenario is the Patriots losing a tiebreaker for the #7 seed to the Dolphins. But that's the only path for the Patriots to miss the playoffs at 10-7 and it is extremely narrow. Realistically we likely clinch if we win the next 2. Let's see what happens this weekend and what the scenarios are from there.

 

[Ring 6]

The Patriots have the highest % of drives ending with a score, almost 50%, and the lowest % of defensive drives allowing a score (26.4%). They also have the highest takeaway %.
In other words when the patriots get the ball they put points on the board more frequently than any nfl team and when the other team has the ball against them they score less frequently than against any other defense.
And the chance a Patriot possession ends in points is almost double the chance their opponents possession ends in points.
Perhaps one of the most valuable gauges of dominance.

 

[Thelonious]

Heh. the posts here from back in October predicting a 7 or 8-win season look really dumb at this point, don't they?

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Heh. the posts here from back in October predicting a 7 or 8-win season look really dumb at this point, don't they?

I have never been so happy to be proven too pessimistic. Well that's not true, but it didn't last.

 

[farn]

Would’ve never predicted 8-4 when this team was sitting at a 2-4 crossroads.

A split w BUF & a split MIA/INDY + a win vs Jax would get them to 11 wins. I’m hoping for 12, but maybe 11-6 is where they finish the regular season. If so, w a rookie QB + coming off a 7-9 rebuild, I’d deem the regular season very successful.

 

[MAC10]

Heh. the posts here from back in October predicting a 7 or 8-win season look really dumb at this point, don't they?

As the OP who started the thread, I locked everyone’s responses a few weeks ago so people can’t change them lol. However, I did notice that the number of posters who think the Pats will win 9-11 games went up after October. The real number is less than 20.

 

[BTTA]

As the OP who started the thread, I locked everyone’s responses a few weeks ago so people can’t change them lol. However, I did notice that the number of posters who think the Pats will win 9-11 games went up after October. The real number is less than 20.

Yeah, but the voting is still on. Leave it on until week 16, then I'll vote.

 

[MAC10]

Yeah, but the voting is still on. Leave it on until week 16, then I'll vote.

haha, I should have locked the voting after 1 week

 

[sb1]

ESPN.com's 2021 NFL Playoff Machine - Simulate Matchups and Scenarios

ESPN's NFL Playoff Machine allows you to predict the 2021 NFL Playoff matchups by selecting the winners of games from the season's final weeks to generate the various matchup scenarios.

www.espn.com

I mentioned before that the Pats can clinch a playoff spot if they win tonight and then beat the Colts - I used the ESPN playoff machine just now after yesterday's games and I guess that was premature - there are paths that put the Pats on the outside looking in at 10-7 losing tiebreakers to the Dolphins and out of the division.

One of them is Pats finish 0-3, (yes they inexplicably lose to the Jags), Dolphins win out, Chargers win out, Colts win their last 3. That puts the Pats on the outside looking in without control of their playoff destiny.

Possibly after week 14 depending on how games turn out but we'll see.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

With the win in Buffalo, winning out becomes a very real possibility. @ indy I believe is the toughest game, probably the toughest since our streak started, buffalo will be a battle but hopefully not as hard as last night, and miami looks alot harder than initially thought. But we should be favored each game here on out and should be going into each expecting a w, barring a rash of injuries. With how locked in we are and how important each game is, its a tall order but nothing tougher than what we’ve done to this point.

I still feel confident we can drop one and get the 1 seed at 12-5. Kc’s got 4 moderately tough games coming up, much harder than their previous 4 assuming these teams aren’t missing qbs or their top wideouts so im pretty confident they drop one. Im nearly 100% sure bmore, buff, and ten drop at least 1 more.

 

[sb1]

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I notice that the Poll asked: "How many wins will the Pats get in their remaining 11 games?"
It didn't ask: "How many TOTAL wins will the Pats get in their remaining 11 games?"
So, since nobody went with the option that included "0," as usual everybody on this Board was right!
(For those of you who are humor deprived or who take everything as seriously as Sean McDermott did in his epic, sour grapes, post-game presser last night, that was a joke.)

Seriously, though, congrats to those who were lucky enough, smart enough or "Homer" enough to pick "9--11." I'll gladly admit that I wasn't and am very happy to be wrong.

 

[sb1]

How many wins do you think will get in the playoffs and the bye?

Pats have 9. If we lose out from here we'll have 5 AFC losses and that's not ideal at all for tiebreakers. Don't think 9 will be enough.

Pats will almost certainly beat Jax so that's 10 wins. Not a lock but that should get them in.

I think 11 is the true magic number and will probably get them a home playoff game. Other than Jax just need one win against any of Buf, Mia and Ind. Very doable.

12 wins should be enough to clinch the top seed. That is a 3-1 finish, and 2 AFC losses. No other team in the conference has less than 3 conference losses. I don't think Ravens or Chiefs are winning out and they have 3 more conference losses right now than we do.

13 wins with a 4-0 finish... well nothing to say here

 

[A Defiant Goose]

I picked 10-7 finish (voted 7-8 wins at 2-4)

What do I win