Quick Thoughts: Week 17

Still having a really hard time believing this is the last week of the regular season...

But since it is...

Tomorrow we find out who's in and who's out of the playoffs. Pretty much everything is up for grabs except the #1 seed in the AFC (go Pats!). Other than that, it's anybody's guess how the playoffs will look. We can all take some pretty educated guesses and get a pretty good idea. I mean, for Denver to lock up the #2 seed, all they need is either a win (which they play Oakland so...) or a Cincinnati loss or tie. I'd just go ahead and make a wild pick that the Broncos get the highly coveted first round bye, locking in at #2 in the AFC. As for the NFC, well this one's a little more complicated. Especially since the #1 seed is literally anybody's for the taking. My guess would be Seattle takes the top spot, but I would love to be wrong on that. 


My take:

AFC                                                                                                 NFC

New England	Seattle
Denver	Detroit
Cincinnati	Dallas
Indianapolis	Carolina
Pittsburgh	Arizona
San Diego	Green Bay

Last week while most Patriots fans were celebrating the Bengals' win over the Broncos, my grandpa made an interesting point and gave me a different perspective on the playoff picture. I was stoked about the Bengals' win, as well, since it gave the Patriots homefield throughout the playoffs. Gramps said something about being 'glad the road to the Super Bowl runs through New England, but that Cincinnati is one of the teams that goes from good-to bad-to good-to bad-to lucky. And luck isn't something you want to mess with come playoff time'. Good point, right? While many Patriots fans worry so much about facing Denver in the playoffs, again, maybe we've been focused on worrying about the wrong team. The Broncos haven't really been themselves lately, and Cinci keeps finding ways to win. Since luck has beaten us at home in the playoffs, before, it's definitely not a scenario we want to relive. Two seasons ago, the Ravens somehow found themselves in the playoffs as a wildcard. Most everyone said they'd go one and done or surely lose in the divisional round. Turns out, they had everything lucky on their side. They beat us at home in the AFCCG and went on to win the Super Bowl. For some reason, Baltimore just got lucky that season. This season, though...feels a little different. That's all I shall say because I'm way too superstitious. 

Out of the eight week 17 games in the AFC, seven of those impact the playoff picture. The one that doesn't? Bills @ Pats. New England has nothing to gain and nothing to lose from the game. Really the only thing they could lose is a healthy player. I do expect to see TB12 on the field Sunday for the regular season finale, but hopefully only for a quarter. Same goes for guys like Revis, McCourty, Wilfork, Chan95, Edelman, Vereen, Gronk and a few others. Obviously, some starters have to play, but resting our key players for most of the game is the way to go. This game doesn't mean anything for the Patriots, but who doesn't want to close out the season with a win? 

As always, go Patriots.