What seed does New England end up with

[New England Pride]

What do you guys think? I think realistically they can drop a game and still get a bye, but if they win out they will get HFA. I'm gonna go optimistic and say they pull through Sunday night, win against Tennessee, and get some offensive players back @New York and get the 1 seed.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I think losses to HOU and NYJ (unless Gronk is back for NYJ) with wins in the other two, so 12-4 and the #3 seed.

 

[rexxar]

My heart says #1, my brain says #2, and my gut says #3.

 

[New England Pride]

I think losses to HOU and NYJ (unless Gronk is back for NYJ) with wins in the other two, so 12-4 and the #3 seed.

I understand your concerns. I think Sunday night is absolutely huge. Win this one and we should be OK until the calvery come back.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It's almost impossible to say. It depends...

Based on what we have seen the last 3-4 weeks the offense is scuffing along and the defense - with the absence of High and Collins has also been erratic in clutch situation.

I'm assuming with everyone back and finding a playing rhythm, better coaching, the line playing together and the White/Williams combo will give them what Vereen gave them last year they are still the best team in football.

 

[VrabelJr]

#1. We're 10-2 but the last two weeks have put this team's backs against the wall like we're 6-6. I expect them to respond well.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

the team always responds well with their backs against the wall. the rest of the country thinks NE will lose. i think they come out and play a great game.

i also see a loss to the Jets. they will finish 13-3.

 

[FCB02062]

#3...they finish 12-4 & lose tiebreaker to denver

 

[mosi]

I think losses to HOU and NYJ (unless Gronk is back for NYJ) with wins in the other two, so 12-4 and the #3 seed.

I think that still gets us at the 2nd seed. Cinci will lose to Pitt and at Denver.

 

[mosslost]

One week at a time. Pittsburgh could beat both Denver and the Bengals.. and we might win the next two. As bad as things are I will not be surprised if we beat Houston at all. Our Offense as bad it has been outscored Philly's Offence 28-14. We should have won that game going away they really dropped the ball no pun intended. That said I don't expect that again. I see us winning this week to keep pace. And very likely we beat Titans. Then we are 12-2, Denver and Bengals have to play still. At that point if they can get to 12-2, the bye is sitting to be had and they will go hard for it and get it. Hell if they get the next 2.. I think HFA is really possible still. All that said this Houston game is really gigantic. If they lose this game more than likely any bye is gone obviously barring a meltdown of either Bengals or Broncos.

 

[PatsGirl2011]

I predict 13-3 and the second seed. For some odd reason I think the Denver loss will come back to bite us big time. Oh well, it would be cool to avenge the loss in the playoffs.

 

[ensoul]

Third seed. With either a 12-4 or 11-5 record. Pats won't beat the Texans, they should beat the titans, and the jets and dolphins are a toss up.

 

[Galeb]

After the @JarMayo51 Brady taint lick incident, I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

 

[MitchKumstein]

Pats caught a break with both Broncos and Cincinnati having to play the Steelers, who have been hot, and also have another head to head game.

I think it gets the Patriots the 2 seed

 

[juny]

Guessing #2. Must root for Steelers as they play both Cincy and Denver. Then again if they win both, they will have tremendous momentum going into the playoffs

 

[mosslost]

I just did the ESPN Playoff machine and all things being equal we are in quite good shape for tie breakers other than the obvious head to head with Denver.

Our Head to Head loss to Denver doesn't matter in the event of the possible 3 way tie with all three. In that case we get number 1 if Bengals beat Denver. The flip side to that is not bad news either because if Denver beats Bengals; we have to totally suck not to get the 2 seed (Don't say it) because we get most of the tie breakers over a head to head tie with Cinci over Denver (either at 13-3 or 14-2)

So, if we win out we are the 2 seed for sure, and the 1 seed no matter who Denver's one loss comes from. So, HFA can be had by the Pats going either 3-1 or 4-0.... I would even call it likely we get the one seed with either of those outcomes. I don't think it likely statistically that they Steelers don't win at least one of the two games against the teams either.

Obviously, none of this matters if we suck. BUT, we should have won both these last two games and I think there is no reason they cannot win these games especially the next 2. If we get to 12-2 things may already be shaping up... the ESPN Playoff machine gives us the one seed if we win the next 2 at 12-2 three way tie with Denver and Cinci.. and also at 13-3 three way tie. We win any tie with Cinci since one our losses is in NFC. The only way we get 3rd seed at 13-3 is if Cinci wins out, and Broncos finish 13-3. Its really up to the Pats. 4-0 will get them HFA in my opinion. 3-1 might also.

PS: Actually I took another look. Though the three way ties do go in our favor in some of the cases; it does appear to matter which games are won and lost. One thing for sure... if we win out and Cinci wins out, we get the number one seed.

 

[Haterproof]

Third seed. With either a 12-4 or 11-5 record. Pats won't beat the Texans, they should beat the titans, and the jets and dolphins are a toss up.

When dud the Texans become world beaters?

 

[BradyFTW!]

I expect that the Pats will finish 13-3, with either the 1 or 2 seed. I just have a really hard time seeing them losing this week. While Hopkins is insanely good, physically I think Butler matches up really well with him, and the Texans don't have the ground game to exploit what's been our biggest weakness since Hightower went down. I could see the D absolutely shutting down Houston's offense, and buying us another week on the path to Hightower, Gronk and Edelman getting healthy.

A win this week should lead into a pretty easy win next week (I was actually a little worried about the Eagles game, but not so much about the Titans), which would leave us 12-2 and only needing to go 1-1 to get to 13-3. Of the Bengals and Broncos, one is going to lose their H2H, and I doubt that they can both win out in all of their other games, so I think 13-3 should be sufficient for a bye.

Just goes to show how bad the Philly loss was, in the grand scheme of things. If the Pats beat the Eagles, 3-1 the rest of the way guarantees a bye and probably gets the 1 seed, but that's a luxury we no longer have.

 

[mosslost]

When dud the Texans become world beaters?

Pats will win. They should have beat Denver at home. There wont be a three game losing streak.

 

[MitchKumstein]

A lot of Pats fans I've been talking to are also writing off the Texans game as a loss, and I don't get it either.