At the moment, the Patriots are the #4 seed in the playoffs which mean they would host the #5 seed - the top Wild Card team - in the 1st round. At the moment, that is Jacksonville. If the Patriots don't win, they will be the #4 seed no matter what.
The Pats can move up to be the #3 seed if they win and Cincinatti loses. That would give the Pats and Bengals the same record (11-5) and the Patriots would have better tie-breakers. If the Patriots do get the #3 seed, they'll host the #6 seed - the second Wild Card team - in the first round. At the moment, that is Pittsburgh, but if a lot of things happen, it will be Kansas City.
Jacksonville is probably going to beat the Tennessee Titans which will lock up a #5 seed for them. The only way the Steelers will miss the playoffs is if they lose to the Lions, Kansas City beats Cincinatti, and San Diego loses to a Denver Broncos team that has nothing to play for.
If the Patriots get a #3 seed and win their first round game, they will automatically go to Denver to play the Broncos in the 2nd round. If the Pats wind up as a #4 seed and win in their first round game, they'll play Indianapolis in Indy if the Bengals win their game. If the Bengals lose, the Patriots would go to Denver.
So what do the Patriots want? Obviously, a first round game against Jacksonville seems more inviting than one against Pittsburgh, but we know Pittsburgh a lot better than the Jaguars. But the Steelers are playing pretty well as of late. Then there's the second round. Would you rather play the Colts in Indy or the Broncos in Denver? Neither one is very appealing.
The Patriots are going to win against Miami, most likely. It will be January and the Dolphins are the Dolphins. Cincinatti will probably beat Kansas City, but that game is a lot closer to call. Furthermore, the game is in Kansas City and the Chiefs are playing for life, not for seeding. The Chiefs just might pull off an upset and cause a disturbance to the playoff scenarios. I don't think they will, though. I see us being the #4 seed, hosting the Jaguars (who will have a better record than us). We will win a close game, Pittsburgh will beat Cincinatti. We will then go to Denver and the Steelers to Indy. I'm not going to predict any further than that as I am getting too ridiculous.
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i concur, flapjack. and let me say on behalf of the millions of pittsburgh steeler fans across this great country of ours, that the bengals must stay the 3 seed. for one, new england has our number, and 2 any game in cincinnatti is practically a home game for the steelers.
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