After the loss to the Bengals last night, the Broncos gave home field advantage to New England throughout the Playoffs.  With that scenario, I think the Patriots are clear favorites to make it to the Super Bowl.  They are so tough at home, and their defense resembles the early 2000's. 

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I agree.

It's very tough for an opponent to win there, especially with how strong their defense has been playing.

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If Gronk goes on a hot streak I don't think anyone can stop them.

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I won't mind see Patriots v Seahawks. I'd like to see how Belichick tries to deal with Wilson, and how Brady/Gronk do against the Seahawk defense.

 

The game being at a neutral site makes it more interesting.

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The sun's not yellow, it's chicken.

You did not have to start a new thread. I mentioned the Patriots and Denver's loss in this one:

 

http://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/top...off-teams/

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After receiving home field advantage, the New England Patriots will be hard to beat!

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the patriots are going to be strong. in my mind, gronk gives them a big advantage against the seahawks that the broncos dont have. no one on the seahawks can matchup with gronk.

 

i think the clear 2 best teams in the afc are the broncos and patriots, but whats going on with peyton? just a slump? or is he showing his age?

 

i expect peyton to bounce back and if the broncos and pats meet up it should be a heck of a game. i just dont see the broncos being able to overcome the seahawks if they both make it to the super bowl. the broncos need to hope for the hawks to get knocked out. 

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Coughlin when asked if winning will be a focus: "What the hell else is there? This is nice and dandy, but winning is what all this is about."

the patriots are going to be strong. in my mind, gronk gives them a big advantage against the seahawks that the broncos dont have. no one on the seahawks can matchup with gronk.


i think the clear 2 best teams in the afc are the broncos and patriots, but whats going on with peyton? just a slump? or is he showing his age?


i expect peyton to bounce back and if the broncos and pats meet up it should be a heck of a game. i just dont see the broncos being able to overcome the seahawks if they both make it to the super bowl. the broncos need to hope for the hawks to get knocked out.

I agree, Gronk is the x factor for Brady. If they double him, Brady will make them pay.


Don't sleep on the Cowboys though. They are looking strong at the right time. Patriots/cowboys would be a great match up too.

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You did not have to start a new thread. I mentioned the Patriots and Denver's loss in this one:

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/topic/9400-playoff-teams/'>http://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/topic/9400-playoff-teams/</a>

Oh well...

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I agree, Gronk is the x factor for Brady. If they double him, Brady will make them pay.


Don't sleep on the Cowboys though. They are looking strong at the right time. Patriots/cowboys would be a great match up too.

Would be good for the NFL and TV for sure. The NFC I think is more wide open than the AFC for certain.

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Coughlin when asked if winning will be a focus: "What the hell else is there? This is nice and dandy, but winning is what all this is about."

It will be interesting to see how much Tom Brady plays against the Bills in the Patriots regular season finale.   With the game having no playoff position ramifications and the Bills having a top flight Defensive Line,   the risk of playing Brady extensively could easily exceed the award.

 

With Gronk's injury history,   it might make sense to use Brady and Gronk for two or three drives and then get them out of the game.

 

At the very least,  the Patriots in their current form are the clear favorites in the AFC.   Their Defense seems better than it has in many seasons.    In the last 2 AFC Championship games,  the Patriots suffered an injury to their top CB.   That hurt them greatly against Baltimore and Denver in the respective games.   They can't afford that to happen again this season.

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the patriots are going to be strong. in my mind, gronk gives them a big advantage against the seahawks that the broncos dont have. no one on the seahawks can matchup with gronk.

 

i think the clear 2 best teams in the afc are the broncos and patriots, but whats going on with peyton? just a slump? or is he showing his age?

 

i expect peyton to bounce back and if the broncos and pats meet up it should be a heck of a game. i just dont see the broncos being able to overcome the seahawks if they both make it to the super bowl. the broncos need to hope for the hawks to get knocked out. 

It's that back surgery finally catching up with him, that and both the def in those games were pretty good. dalton was just as bad, but he got lucky his INTs got dropped. 

 

I think maybe 2 more years tops but that entire game it didn't look like peyton had any arm strength at all left. he's gotta be super accurate

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It will be interesting to see how much Tom Brady plays against the Bills in the Patriots regular season finale.   With the game having no playoff position ramifications and the Bills having a top flight Defensive Line,   the risk of playing Brady extensively could easily exceed the award.

 

With Gronk's injury history,   it might make sense to use Brady and Gronk for two or three drives and then get them out of the game.

 

At the very least,  the Patriots in their current form are the clear favorites in the AFC.   Their Defense seems better than it has in many seasons.    In the last 2 AFC Championship games,  the Patriots suffered an injury to their top CB.   That hurt them greatly against Baltimore and Denver in the respective games.   They can't afford that to happen again this season.

i agree with this completely. I bet they play 1 or 2 drives.  Maybe even none.  Maybe Revis is going to sit too.  I wouldn't play anyone of significance for a nothing game.  It must be nice to not play the last game, and have a first round bye and homefield advantage.

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i agree with this completely. I bet they play 1 or 2 drives.  Maybe even none.  Maybe Revis is going to sit too.  I wouldn't play anyone of significance for a nothing game.  It must be nice to not play the last game, and have a first round bye and homefield advantage.

 

I think the Patriots approach should be along the lines of a 4th pre-season game.  If a key starter is going to play at all in order to offset being rusty for the playoffs,  it should be for a very limited period of time.   

 

One additional thought that comes to mind that relates to the last sentence you provided.   Who would have thought after the Chiefs took apart the Patriots on MNF in week # 4 that the Patriots would be back in this position?    Even the most optimistic Patriots fan probably couldn't envision this happening after the Chiefs game.

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I think the Patriots approach should be along the lines of a 4th pre-season game.  If a key starter is going to play at all in order to offset being rusty for the playoffs,  it should be for a very limited period of time.   

 

One additional thought that comes to mind that relates to the last sentence you provided.   Who would have thought after the Chiefs took apart the Patriots on MNF in week # 4 that the Patriots would be back in this position?    Even the most optimistic Patriots fan probably couldn't envision this happening after the Chiefs game.

 

i just cant ever count out belichick and brady. not yet. same way i never count out saban and alabama.

 

id honestly like to see them get one more. 

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Coughlin when asked if winning will be a focus: "What the hell else is there? This is nice and dandy, but winning is what all this is about."

I would be shocked if they didn't make it to the Super Bowl

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The AFC has two dominant teams and then everyone else. The NFC has a bunch of really good teams. By the looks of it, every team in the NFC (Aside from the NFC South Winner) will be entering the playoffs within a games difference in record. Pretty incredible.

 

A team I see being a dark horse in the AFC is Pittsburgh. They'll be tough for anyone. I see NE coming out of it.

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i just cant ever count out belichick and brady. not yet. same way i never count out saban and alabama.


id honestly like to see them get one more.

Me too. I think it would be pretty cool to see this duo win 4-6 super bowl's. Would that make them the best ever?

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I think the Patriots approach should be along the lines of a 4th pre-season game. If a key starter is going to play at all in order to offset being rusty for the playoffs, it should be for a very limited period of time.


One additional thought that comes to mind that relates to the last sentence you provided. Who would have thought after the Chiefs took apart the Patriots on MNF in week # 4 that the Patriots would be back in this position? Even the most optimistic Patriots fan probably couldn't envision this happening after the Chiefs game.

I didn't think they were done, but you're right, no way I thought they'd be number 1 seed.

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