The AFC West is tough, but anybody agree that it helps us?

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

Obviously, at this point with only one loss the #1 seed so far belongs to our Patriots and its very well deserved, but am I glad that the AFC West consists of three or four good teams? Hell yeah! They're beating each other up and its helping our chances.

Let us hope they can continue to beat eachother up and add to their losses! So yeah AFC West, continue fighting for the top seed in your division and making things easier for our Patriots.

 

[ALP]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

 

[Kdo5]

Of course it does. I'd be happy to see the Donkeys split with the Raiders and hopefully another loss or two can be piled on top of each. So long as we clinch HFA, we should be sailing to the Super Bowl. No AFC team scares me.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

Though, our games w/ Brady makes me believe we will do fine against playoff teams.

We've beaten Buffalo who can play, Pitt (without Ben though) who can still make and be a force in the playoffs and survived four games without Brady. In my opinion, winning three of four Bradyless games shows me that our team has game.

 

[NormZauchin]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

I can understand your worry, but the bottom line is that if the Pats were to fall behind in a playoff game because they took an opponent too lightly or were too used to playing mediocre teams, they have TB to rally them.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

I can understand your worry, but the bottom line is that if the Pats were to fall behind in a playoff game because they took an opponent too lightly or were too used to playing mediocre teams, they have TB to rally them.

I hate calling Brady TB. Just because in the Bucs game a poster said "TB is ****". At first, I was like wat?

 

[Gumby]

Wanted to ask this question as a separate thread, but it works here too:

Are the Faiders now (at 7-2) a greater threat to HFA than the Donkeys?
They have left: Texans , Panthers, Bills, at Chiefs , at Chargers , Colts, at Broncos.

Seems pretty tough to think they could win out, but if they did they would be 4-0 in common opponents (Jills, Texans, Denver).

If Pats go 14-2, best would be 3-1 for common, and if Denver is the extra loss 2-2.

I weight the Denver HFA as a greater threat than the Raiders HFA , but traveling to left Coast in Play-off Season would be no fun either.

is either Team a reasonable threat to equal pats record? Too many Games left to play, injuries /+Health changes yet to occur.

But yeah, the afcw beating each other up seems like a good thing right now.

 

[jmt57]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

Steelers, Seahawks and Broncos are all most likely playoff teams.

 

[Brick27]

AFC West is wild. Here the Chargers are in last, yet could see them beating either/both the Raiders and Chiefs in their remaining division games, especially given they will be at home.

Biggest thing IMO apart from staying healthy is locking up the #1 seed, especially after seeing how last year played out.

Would be nice to see this team get "tested" a bit against more elite teams, particularly elite QBs, but this schedule should keep the Pats honest..
- Ravens matchup is shaping up to be tougher than it looked as of a few weeks ago. They're in the midst of their own playoff hunt.
- Seattle will obviously be a challenge
- Then of course there's Denver and the question of whether the Pats can prove they can win there
- As for the Jets/Dolphins at the end of the regular season..we all remember what happened last year, and surely Bill and Co. do as well. Those two games could be important for seeding, and entering the playoffs without showing complacency

But yeah..back on the AFC West, hopefully they stay relatively equal with trading off wins and losses amongst one another.

 

[NormZauchin]

I hate calling Brady TB. Just because in the Bucs game a poster said "TB is ****". At first, I was like wat?

I don't have a problem because those are my initials as well.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

Meanwhile everyone thinks the AFC West is ultra competitive.

For divisional match-ups, they drew the NFC South and the AFC South, the easiest match-ups they could get.

The Raiders win last night was the first against a team with a winning record. They have a pretty easy schedule excluding the division itself, which I'm not entirely convinced is good.

The Broncos have 1 win against a team outside the division with a winning record, the mighty Texans, which is 1 more win than the Chiefs can claim.

Simply put, they haven't played anyone other than each other. They got great divisional match-ups and then will play against each other so it's really difficult to gauge just how good any of these teams are.

Maybe once we play Denver, then we can see how good Denver really is, then we can estimate how good the Raiders and Chiefs are. But beating the Texans (or losing to the Texans like the Chiefs did) doesn't tell me much.

 

[Family]

Looking at the games left Chiefs or Raiders could easily end up 10-6.

 

[IllegalContact]

don't confuse 'tough' with 'competitive'

the Chargers IR could be an expansion team and they could still wind up winning the division

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Beat up on each other...i'll take it

 

[brdmaverick]

The WEST beating each other up is DEFINITELY a good thing.

Just imagine if KC, DEN, and OAK were in different AFC divisions, we'd still be in a dogfight for a bye week when right now it's almost guarantee. I know I know, there are no guarantees but you know what I mean.

The West being good does mean that whomever comes out will be 'battle tested', but I think that also means they'll be travelling to Foxborough which doesn't bode well for any team.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I always think that teams that have to beat tough teams to get to the Playoffs have an advantage in the Playoffs over teams that don't. Home Field matters a lot less if the Home team is hosting a team that is battle-tested with road victories over good teams. In other words, whoever wins the AFC West is going to be a tough out, wherever they are seeded. Whoever comes in second won't be a pushover either.

I also think that the team that has to beat tougher teams to get to the SB or that wins two or three on the Road to get there, has an advantage in the big game.

 

[brdmaverick]

...and IF we did have to travel to the eventual winner of the WEST, you can bet I'd rather it be OAK over KC or DEN

 

[chasa]

are they tough though?

lets looks at who they have played..

Den: Carolina(in the dumpster), Ind(not playoff caliber), Cin(probably playoff bound), TB(Dumpster fire), Atlanta(denver lost, atlanta seems good), texans(dumpster fire), SD/Oak(hard to say based on weak schedules)

oak: NO(no defense), Atlanta(again afc west lost), Ten(dumpster fire), Bal(not playoff caliber, Jax(dumpster fire, TB(dumpster fire) sd/kc/den

KC hou(dumpster fire), jets(dumpster fire), Pit(pit blew them out), NO (no defense), ind(dumpster fire, Jax(dumpster fire)

Are you seeing a trend?

Any team that plays against the AFC south is going to look pretty great, but getting AFC south AND nfc South? that imo is 8 free wins a season.

the only thing the AFC west had going for it is Denver is hard to play at home. hopefully that wont be an issue.

 

[The Gr8est]

my concern at this point is not having played a contender until the playoffs

still, this is a BB team, but that is still a concern

Maybe teams like the Texans, Bengals, and Steelers would be considered contenders if they actually beat the Pats.

 

[BobDigital]

The Pats hopefully get to play a healthy Broncos team and Seattle comes here fired up. I want those 2 games to be tough. Even if the Pats win by 2 TDs each time i want the feeling that the other team played really well.