I don't think that Closing Time is a pats hater, and I agree with a lot of things that he said. The Pats still have a lot of BUTS, and the biggest one is that the teams that they have shut down these last three weeks all have quarterbacks who are starting their first real year, all inexperienced QBs. Therefore the Pats do not need to respect the passing game as much as with other teams like San Diego and Indy and can key on the run a lot more. Therefore, even though the Pats got a quality win against Tampa, there are still questions out there.
Saying all that, there is no question that the Pats are playing much better now. Previously, they even had trouble with bad teams. At one point, posters were putting up stats that showed the defense giving up XXX yards and XX points per game, and saying that this was the worst Pats defense in history. The Pats were struggling to beat the bad teams. Every game was a dogfight. Posters like me were just hoping that BB would figure something out even though we weren't exactly sure what he would or could do. Now, however, the Pats have finally got a stable formula going, and they are consistently improving every week.
I know the ideal dream scenario for Pats fans is to beat San Diego, beat Indy, and then beat Denver. Finally, we beat the Bears or Carolina in the Super Bowl. Very nice scenario. Every Pats fan would be ecstatic about this. However, I think this is a bit arrogant, and you don't have to be a Pats hater to think this. I just remember that before the season, some posters were saying that the Pats should go undefeated this season; that there was no team that the Pats should not beat. Some of us were still saying that the beginning schedule is really rough, and we were predicting something like a 12-4 year. It's of course really nice to go through an undefeated season against one of the starting toughest schedules ever, but I don't know if that's realistic.
So, that's my same thoughts about the playoff run: San Diego, Indy, Denver, you would just be tempting the football gods too much there. I'd be much happier with an easier run like Jacksonville, Indy, and Denver. Truthfully, the only team that I really want revenge on is Indy. All this talk about being the greatest team of all time; we need to show them who's really the greatest team of all time. So saying that, the Pats match up really well with Jacksonville. There's no question they're the worst team in the playoffs with their QB situation. I don't think the Pats match up well with Cincinnati or San Diego. However, I'm not afraid of Denver with Plummer, and Indy, I know that's the game everyone wants, the players and the fans. Indy would just be like last year's Pittsburgh game.