I hope we don’t look back and say if only Mariota threw it over Nick Bonitto’s head, the Pats would have the #1 seed.
By the way, Mariota now pronouncing his name and Collinsworth all night calling him Mary-o-TAH was extremely annoying.
There are 17 games, and each team has wins by thin margins, wins that start winning streaks because they build confidence (like our win against the Bills), that it's impossible to say that one particular play has decided anything, unless it's a Hail Mary in game 17.
The Pats beat Miami in week 2 where the Dolphins player stepped out of bounds, instead of scoring and giving them the lead with a minute left. If he doesn't, there's no guarantee that the Pats win the game, they're 0-2, and who knows what happens for the rest of the season. They beat the Bengals by 6, and a PI penalty could have easily been called on 4th down, where the Bengals would have four tries from the 9-yard line to win the game. The Falcons had a chance for a game winning drive, so did the Bucs, etc...
Even the 2007 Pats had 2-3 games they could or should have lost, you're not going to win the bye by destroying everyone 30-7.
If the Broncos win the bye by managing a gauntlet of the Packers, who are fighting for the first place in the NFC, the Chiefs, who are fighting for their lives, the Jags and Chargers, who are fighting for their division, and even the Raiders, who they barely beat 10-7 less than a month ago, then they would have deserved it. Having seen them play, i wouldn't be surprised if they lose three of those five, which would give the Pats a margin of two losses.
This Denver team isn't nearly as good as their record. They beat the Giants 33-32, the Raiders 10-7, the Jets 13-11, the Commies 27-26, they won their last four games by 3, 3, 3, and 1 point. They could be 0-5 in their last 5 and i wouldn't be surprised. Unless the Pats lose both the games against the Ravens and the Bills, they're winning the bye, Denver is not winning 4 of the last 5.