We could play the Squeelers 1st round?

[supafly]

If Houston wins on Sunday, and we throw the game to Houston in the last week, it's impossible for Pitt to get the #6 seed.

I decided to go to houstontexans.com once and for all, to check for myself what the Houston Texans were thinking. Not sure why we didn't think of it before!

According to their 'official website' :

"As one of six 7-7 teams in the AFC, the Texans trail the 8-6 Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos by one game in the Wild Card standings. If the Texans beat the Dolphins at Miami on Sunday, there are only two possible scenarios that could eliminate the Texans from playoff contention before the final week of the season.

Knockout scenarios
One knockout scenario would require the Cincinnati Bengals to win at home against the Chiefs, the Ravens to win at Pittsburgh and the Broncos to win at Philadelphia this week.

The other way the Texans would be eliminated is if the Ravens and Broncos win, and the New York Jets win at Indianapolis.

Unless one of those scenarios unfolds, the Texans' playoff hopes will be alive when they face the AFC East-leading New England Patriots at Reliant Stadium on Jan. 3. Provided, of course, they beat the Dolphins – a 7-7 team fighting for its playoff life – at Land Shark Stadium on Sunday.

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So, basically it seems they need BAL to win over PIT.

Hope this helps.

 

[upstater1]

I decided to go to houstontexans.com once and for all, to check for myself what the Houston Texans were thinking. Not sure why we didn't think of it before!

According to their 'official website' :

"As one of six 7-7 teams in the AFC, the Texans trail the 8-6 Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos by one game in the Wild Card standings. If the Texans beat the Dolphins at Miami on Sunday, there are only two possible scenarios that could eliminate the Texans from playoff contention before the final week of the season.

Knockout scenarios
One knockout scenario would require the Cincinnati Bengals to win at home against the Chiefs, the Ravens to win at Pittsburgh and the Broncos to win at Philadelphia this week.

The other way the Texans would be eliminated is if the Ravens and Broncos win, and the New York Jets win at Indianapolis.

Unless one of those scenarios unfolds, the Texans' playoff hopes will be alive when they face the AFC East-leading New England Patriots at Reliant Stadium on Jan. 3. Provided, of course, they beat the Dolphins – a 7-7 team fighting for its playoff life – at Land Shark Stadium on Sunday.

----------

So, basically it seems they need BAL to win over PIT.

Hope this helps.

It definitely corresponds to what I was saying.

Clarity comes in one way: when you look at one team's interests, it's easy to run through the scenarios. The national experts don't haVe time to run through all scenarios for each team.

It's easy to break this down once you decide that the team you're interested in will go 2-0.

So, this Houston site contradicts many of the experts and the Yahoo generator since those sites don't want to look beyond head-to-head tiebreakers.

 

[upstater1]

I decided to go to houstontexans.com once and for all, to check for myself what the Houston Texans were thinking. Not sure why we didn't think of it before!

According to their 'official website' :

"As one of six 7-7 teams in the AFC, the Texans trail the 8-6 Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos by one game in the Wild Card standings. If the Texans beat the Dolphins at Miami on Sunday, there are only two possible scenarios that could eliminate the Texans from playoff contention before the final week of the season.

Knockout scenarios
One knockout scenario would require the Cincinnati Bengals to win at home against the Chiefs, the Ravens to win at Pittsburgh and the Broncos to win at Philadelphia this week.

The other way the Texans would be eliminated is if the Ravens and Broncos win, and the New York Jets win at Indianapolis.

Unless one of those scenarios unfolds, the Texans' playoff hopes will be alive when they face the AFC East-leading New England Patriots at Reliant Stadium on Jan. 3. Provided, of course, they beat the Dolphins – a 7-7 team fighting for its playoff life – at Land Shark Stadium on Sunday.

----------

So, basically it seems they need BAL to win over PIT.

Hope this helps.

I just realized something.

You misread the link. The scenarios there are about what will knockout Houston from the playoffs. A Baltimore win against Pitt knocks Houston OUT. So, it's the exact opposite from needing a Baltimore win. They wouldn't need a Baltimore win unless Flacco already booked his early January Vacation to Bora Bora.

 

[PatriotsInGA]

Pats should be doing some scoreboard watching the next two weeks and plan how to play their week 17 game. It DOES matter who they play. Belichick may pull a 2005 again and try to lose on purpose for a more favorable matchup

This should be the plan

1. Beat a crummy Jax squad....clinch AFC East and celebrate for a week

2. Whatever happens in the Balt-Pit game will tell us alot about how we play week 17. If Pit loses, we should win out to try and play MIA/NYJ/DEN. I think Pit wins. Balt will likely finish as the 5 seed, Denver will likely fall out with a loss at PHI, and keep a close eye on Pit as my gut tells me they slip in as the no. six spot with two clutch wins.

3. Toss around the idea before week 17 at houston...do we match up better with Balt or Pit?

4. Tough call, but I think I'd rather play Balt. Therefore, I think we should lose on purpose/rest everyone at Houston so we can get the 4 seed to match up with Balt. Pit is a dangerous passing team and we know the Pats struggle against upper echelon qbs. Roeth is a game changer--and would absolute shred this NE defense to pieces. He is so tough to tackle and creates havoc out of the pocket.

This is assuming Houston beats Miami, correct?

 

[supafly]

I just realized something.

You misread the link. The scenarios there are about what will knockout Houston from the playoffs. A Baltimore win against Pitt knocks Houston OUT. So, it's the exact opposite from needing a Baltimore win. They wouldn't need a Baltimore win unless Flacco already booked his early January Vacation to Bora Bora.

I finally thought I was helping solve the big cluster, while in turn proving how you somehow figured it out beyond the other guys.

Now, we're back to being in a haze

 

[supafly]

This is assuming Houston beats Miami, correct?

We're not too sure at this point. I thought I and many of the other media outlets including the infamous 'playoff generator' had it correct, then upstater1 figured out that I/they must've looked past some things.

After looking and re-looking at upstater's theory, I think he's on to something. I ran it past a few friends etc, and they agree it can be seen that way--so it appears that upstater is indeed correct.

At this point, by the time anyone figures it out it'll be Sunday, and it won't have mattered anyway

As Pats fans, all we can really root for on Sunday is for us to win, and Indy to lose (for records sake)

 

[supafly]

It appears that upstater is correct, HOU doesn't care one way or another about PIT, from what I can tell.

Which makes all of the mediots and natl pundits absolutely wrong, not to mention the Yahoo playoff generator. As he claimed the whole time, they didn't have the patience, time, and capacities to look past all of the tiebreaker scenarios.

HOU would would own any tiebreaker over PIT due to common games, where PIT is 2-3 vs. HOU 4-1.

So, bottom line : (what PIT needs to become playoff eligible)

--obviously need to win last 2 games
--need NYJ to lose 1 remaining game to either CIN or IND
--need JAX to lose 1 remaining game to either NE or CLE
--need DEN to lose to PHI (OR) need BAL to lose to OAK in week 17

And finally...they need HOU to lose one of their remaining games

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

lol you guys are still trying to figure out this tiebreaker... I gave up trying to understand this scenario a long time ago

 

[supafly]

lol you guys are still trying to figure out this tiebreaker... I gave up trying to understand this scenario a long time ago

LOL



10 char

 

[upstater1]

Patsylicious, can't you see the fun we're having?

Last year I pulled my hair out when we were 3 weeks from the end of the season. I saw that the Pats were going to go 11-5 and still miss the playoffs, and very few people would have thought it possible, especially since we can win the division this year with a 9-7 record.

It's going to be hard for the Steelers not to finish tied with teams other than the Broncos. I can't fathom it happening. There are a bunch of teams in the mix (Ravens, Broncos, Steelers, Jags, Titans, Houston, Jets, Phins),

Is it possible for the Jags, Titans, Houston, Jets, Phins to all go 1-1 or worse?

Chances are maybe 50/50 that that would happen IMO.

 

[SpiderFox53]

If you go to the NFL's playoff scenario page

Playoff Picture 2009

They do appear to concur with upstater. The teams in the hunt appear to be listed in current tie breaker order.