Well, I guess I’m “enjoying” this dead-cat-bounce part of the season. Draft an OL and run it back!
Week 17: Alt Pats Keep On Winning Vs The Bills!
- Thread starter Bernie Carbohydrate
- Start date
Leave it to the NFL to seed draft position by strength of schedule vs head to head, which is why the Commanders are 3rd and we're 4th.
They are something else.
They are something else.
i believe the logic with this is to prevent a situation where two teams are tied record wise and playing at the end of the season and they’re both incentivized to lose. While it’s extremely unlikely a team would throw a game, too many jobs on the line etc, it’s (I guess) enough of a possibility where the NFL deemed SOS to be a more “fair” tiebreaker
still stupid though
Makes some NFL-sense.
But aren't the tied teams still incentivized to lose in that rare scenario, though -- to end up with the worse record of the two; no tiebreaker needed?
.
That actually makes sense.
But as you pointed out, it is still stupid.
So if the Patriots win another game, then the Giants pass them in the seeding too then.
Again with the Giants.
If you’re looking for a bright side to the Pats screwing up their draft position, it appears last week’s Broncos loss to the Pats broke Sean Payton.
it’s going to be really close with the SOS tiebreaker. It will likely come down to the final games for a lot of teams.
right now I think the only SOS which is locked in is the Pats will end up drafting ahead of Arizona and behind Chicago if they end up with the same number of wins as either those two teams.
All the other SOS are close enough they can swing one way or the other. Almost every game league wide the next two weeks will swing the tiebreakers.
the interesting thing is that the last 2 weeks are mostly divisional games so each result gets “double”’ counted in the SOS consideration. For example, if the Pats lose to Buffalo and beat the Jets it would put them at 5 wins, tied with Tennessee. If the titans stay at 5, by losing out to Jax and Houston, the Pats worsen their draft slot but strengthen their tiebreaker over Tennessee. Theyd add 2 wins and 2 losses, Tennessee would add 4 wins to their opponents records.
Baltimore beating Miami is a big one we need to root for, since it adds 2 losses to the Pats opponents and one win to the Chargers and Tennesee. Green Bay is another key team as they have played the Chargers and Giants. Atlanta has played Washington, the Giants, Tennesee, Carolina, Arizona and Chicago so their last 2 games will swing SOS quite a bit for the relevant teams the Pats are jockeying against.
I think the idea is that if both teams were incentivized to lose, the game would be a joke (in this world where teams actively tank). Imagine a game where each team is doing 3 straight run plays and punting, playing 3rd string QBs etc
highly improbable but the tiebreakers end in a coin flip rather than ever taking into account head to head so clearly the NFL wants to do everything possible to eliminate the perception of deliberately tanking
But as @joe dokes pointed out, this has nothing to do with the tie breaker. The game itself would be the tie breaker. One team would have a better record after the game. No tie breaker needed. This scenario exists.
I’m watching the Pats’ victory against the Jim Kelly-led Bills in Week 9 of 1996 on YouTube and it is glorious. Skip to the last 15 minutes if you want to relive some fun Parcells-era glory:
View: https://youtu.be/jMKaHQ-r2Y4?si=oLfLbIC1sT-I5lcb
Prime Bledsoe and Curtis Martin, pre-prison Dave Meggett, Troy Brown with career catches 2, 3 and 4. It will also remind you that the refs have always been terrible.
View: https://youtu.be/jMKaHQ-r2Y4?si=oLfLbIC1sT-I5lcb
Prime Bledsoe and Curtis Martin, pre-prison Dave Meggett, Troy Brown with career catches 2, 3 and 4. It will also remind you that the refs have always been terrible.
That was a fun, messy game. Viniatieri better expunge it from his record for his hall of fame submission. That PAT miss after the Martin TD was a shank. McGinest sometimes looked ten feet tall on the field.
Walked into a bar in Nashville (here for the Music City Bowl) and saw that the Pats were leading the Bills in the 4th quarter. And apparently Zappe was hurt because Mac Jones was in. And playing in a non-suck mode. 5 minutes of panic ensued before I realized I was watching the NFL Networks replay of week 7.
I can’t believe the Pats are +14 today. I’d be shocked if they lost by more than 10 and wouldn’t be surprised if they won (god forbid)
Trent Brown a healthy scratch so he won’t get any of his 6.5 million playing time bonuses. That has to be one big, angry man
I seem to recall a few occasions when the general sentiment seemed to be that Belichick had gone out of his way to help a player achieve bonuses. Perhaps Brown's comments about that QB plucked off the practice squad were not appreciated!
View: https://twitter.com/DakRandall/status/1741516419412500722
Sean Stellato was bouncing around the field during warmpus. Saw him greet multiple Patriots execs and fist-bump Jerod Mayo. Then went into the stands and stopped for selfies along the way. Saw a few fans doing the Tommy DeVito celebration when they saw him
Sean Stellato was bouncing around the field during warmpus. Saw him greet multiple Patriots execs and fist-bump Jerod Mayo. Then went into the stands and stopped for selfies along the way. Saw a few fans doing the Tommy DeVito celebration when they saw him
We have guys who can run fast. We have guys who can catch a ball. The Venn diagram between the too isn't pretty.
Sweeping the Bills and pending/depending on next week keeping them out of the playoffs this year would be so sweet
