Who’s Getting in the Playoffs?

[Butler By'Note]

I don't think the Pats are getting past the divisional round this year. They are most likely the 3rd seed and would be lucky to to advance past the WC round. I honestly think it's the Chargers year to go to the SB.

It depends who they play. Assuming they're 3rd, they'll play the 6th seed which could be Pittsburgh/Baltimore or Indy (I'm hoping for Indy), Pittsburgh won't beat New England in Foxboro, just too much zone and mentally I don't think they're strong enough. Baltimore could beat New England in Foxboro (they've done it before) but I don't know that Jackson is ready to win a playoff game. Indy hasn't won in Foxboro in seems like decades. I like the culture change they've got there, but I'm not sure they're ready yet.

So that gets New England to the divisional round where they'll play Houston, which I think is a slam dunk win for New England. I think Houston is a lot of smoke and mirrors this year, their most impressive wins were against Indy and Dallas early in the season, when both were struggling. After that their 8 wins have come against teams that won't be playing in January. They're a fraud and Bill O'Brien is a bad coach who's team is having a good year.

This takes us to the AFC Championship game against the Chargers, which could be either in Foxboro, or a small stadium in Carson which will be at least half filled with Patriots fans. The Chargers are the better team, it just comes down to whether they have the will to finish New England off (Jacksonville showed that's not an easy thing last year) I like the Chargers chances better in Foxboro than I do in Carson, because they've been great on the road this year.

I think those are the only two teams that can come out of the AFC (the Ravens would be a distant third, but way behind these two) and the Patriots have been there before, so you have to think that's a little bit of an edge for them. But based purely on best team, it should be the Chargers.

EDIT: This post pained me to write, because I dislike both teams, but I think they're the two that can do it this year.

[TommyBrady12]

It depends who they play. Assuming they're 3rd, they'll play the 6th seed which could be Pittsburgh/Baltimore or Indy (I'm hoping for Indy), Pittsburgh won't beat New England in Foxboro, just too much zone and mentally I don't think they're strong enough. Baltimore could beat New England in Foxboro (they've done it before) but I don't know that Jackson is ready to win a playoff game. Indy hasn't won in Foxboro in seems like decades. I like the culture change they've got there, but I'm not sure they're ready yet.

So that gets New England to the divisional round where they'll play Houston, which I think is a slam dunk win for New England. I think Houston is a lot of smoke and mirrors this year, their most impressive wins were against Indy and Dallas early in the season, when both were struggling. After that their 8 wins have come against teams that won't be playing in January. They're a fraud and Bill O'Brien is a bad coach who's team is having a good year.

This takes us to the AFC Championship game against the Chargers, which could be either in Foxboro, or a small stadium in Carson which will be at least half filled with Patriots fans. The Chargers are the better team, it just comes down to whether they have the will to finish New England off (Jacksonville showed that's not an easy thing last year) I like the Chargers chances better in Foxboro than I do in Carson, because they've been great on the road this year.

I think those are the only two teams that can come out of the AFC (the Ravens would be a distant third, but way behind these two) and the Patriots have been there before, so you have to think that's a little bit of an edge for them. But based purely on best team, it should be the Chargers.

EDIT: This post pained me to write, because I dislike both teams, but I think they're the two that can do it this year.

2 seed is not out of the question if the Texans lose to the Eagles next week. Otherwise it’s the 3 seed and a date with the Titans most likely and they are not an easy out.

[baphamet]

[brianfrommissou]

I will give it a stab. Since I am a Chiefs homer and am fully aware of our ability to choke, I assumed we lose 2 of our final 3 and the Chargers win out. Other than that, I honestly picked who I thought would win/lose using the ESPN simulator.

AFC

1. Chargers
2. Patriots
3. Texans
4. Ravens
5. Chiefs
6. Dolphins


NFC

1. Saints
2. Rams
3. Bears
4. Cowboys
5. Seahawks
6. Packers

Well, I called that right. And with help from everybody else, we still got 1st seed. I got pretty close on the NFC, but whiffed the AFC pretty badly it appears.

[DevilSpawn]

In order

KC
NE
Hou
Bal
LA
Ind

LA
NO
Chi
Dal
Sea
Car

In the AFC, if the Colts win tonight, I got the AFC 100% right.

In the NFC, I got the two byes correct but the order incorrect. I got seeds 3, 4 and 5 correct but whiffed on Carolina.

Not too shabby.

[bears6385]

bap........Bears......Chargers Super Bowl. That would be fun, original NFL/AFL teams playing for the championship.