If you don't have the confidence that you can win against any team, you shouldn't been champions. Champions should stand at the podium and declare it doesn't matter who they play, as in this second season, no team is more beatable than the next.
How in the world did you digress into this line of reasoning from the
simple poll question?????? weird!
It's all about personal desires/rivalries or favorable positional matchups or edges. The later has proven irrelevant in the playoffs lately. It's all about gameplanning and execution where opponents don't matter.
Wrong! Opponents do matter .... the oppponent's caabilities is the
basis from which a set of premsises are derrive and for which a game
plan evolves
As fans, yes, it's a different story - again - just personal desires and rivalries and revenge that comes into play.
If you don't execute and gameplan properly, you're screwed any way you slice it.
To think the Patriots are sitting there and saying "Oh, let's go for the #4 seed so we can have this and this matchup is asinine. They're playing to win, they're playing for a higher seed, they're playing for consistency, they're playing for chemistry, they're playing for the mission statement of the Patriots. It's the Lombardi trophy they have their eyes on, nothing more,
nothing less.
Wrong again! Belichick has revealed in last season playoffs that while
more than one team is a possibility for a play off game that he and his staff
are planning for each possible team. They will shoot for any advantage they
can get in the playoffs. That should be obvious.
Also note, it' s the next game they are focused on but Detroit relates to an overall strategey if one applies.
Also See comments below on playing for advantages