Potentially Great News on Bengals-Jets Game

[Flasteel]

Like most of us, I was pissed at the flex scheduling and the impact it may have on the Bengals to pull a "Caldwell" against the Jets. However, according to PFT, a situation exists where NE does not necessarily wrap-up the 3 seed with a win against Houston. This may be huge for us if it indeed is true and comes to fruition. Here's a much better explanation:

Patriots don't necessarily clinch third seed with win
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 28, 2009 4:04 PM ET
As we finish our look at all the playoff scenarios -- here's a handy page if you missed anything -- we wanted to clear up one misconception.

We've heard a number of outlets say the Patriots clinch the third seed with a victory over the Texans Sunday. That's not true.

The Patriots are currently third over the Bengals due to an edge in strength of victory. That's the tiebreaker used after conference record and common games. If the Bengals and Patriots both lose or both win Sunday, the tie would again be broken on strength of victory.

The Patriots currently have a big edge in this tiebreaker. If the Vikings beat the Bears tonight, the Patriots would have a five-game lead in the category going into Sunday.

That is a lot of ground to make up, but it's not impossible. So it's more accurate to say a win by the Patriots would give New England a high likelihood of earning the three seed. But they wouldn't clinch the spot.

Glad we got that off our chest.

Note: Thanks to Joe Gesue of NBC Sports for help with this post.

[costanza2k1]

You've got to wonder if the Bengals could win the Jets if their playoffs were on the line...they haven't been playing sound ball lately. Just pull through for us one time and then you can carry on with your one and done expectations.

[papillon]

Like most of us, I was pissed at the flex scheduling and the impact it may have on the Bengals to pull a "Caldwell" against the Jets. However, according to PFT, a situation exists where NE does not necessarily wrap-up the 3 seed with a win against Houston. This may be huge for us if it indeed is true and comes to fruition. Here's a much better explanation:

Patriots don't necessarily clinch third seed with win
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on December 28, 2009 4:04 PM ET
As we finish our look at all the playoff scenarios -- here's a handy page if you missed anything -- we wanted to clear up one misconception.

We've heard a number of outlets say the Patriots clinch the third seed with a victory over the Texans Sunday. That's not true.

The Patriots are currently third over the Bengals due to an edge in strength of victory. That's the tiebreaker used after conference record and common games. If the Bengals and Patriots both lose or both win Sunday, the tie would again be broken on strength of victory.

The Patriots currently have a big edge in this tiebreaker. If the Vikings beat the Bears tonight, the Patriots would have a five-game lead in the category going into Sunday.

That is a lot of ground to make up, but it's not impossible. So it's more accurate to say a win by the Patriots would give New England a high likelihood of earning the three seed. But they wouldn't clinch the spot.

Glad we got that off our chest.

Note: Thanks to Joe Gesue of NBC Sports for help with this post.

What if the Bears hold on?

Pappy

[NKySteeler]

What if the Bears hold on?

Pappy

Bears are making a game of it in OT....

But good question. What if the Bears win? Does this matter?

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Bears won. I'm not smart enough to even begin to figure this out.

Here we go Steelers, Here we go!!

[D Rock]

I'm just holding out hope that the Bengals and Pats don't sit their starters because they feel it will mess up their mojo if they take some time off

[Scarletfire1970]

Houston has a good offense and the Patriots have a suspect D. That is going to be a tough match up for the Patriots.

[SteelAbility]

What if the Bears hold on?

Pappy

NE did no play the NFCN. CIN did. No matter which team wins CIN goes +1 then -1 in SoS ... I think.

[RuthlessBurgher]

What if the Bears hold on?

Pappy

NE did no play the NFCN. CIN did. No matter which team wins CIN goes +1 then -1 in SoS ... I think.

But isn't it strength of victories and not just strength of schedule? Since the Bengals beat the Bears and lost to the Vikings (the opposite of us), this win would make their win over Chicago more impressive, strength-wise, no?

[SteelAbility]

What if the Bears hold on?

Pappy

NE did no play the NFCN. CIN did. No matter which team wins CIN goes +1 then -1 in SoS ... I think.

But isn't it strength of victories and not just strength of schedule? Since the Bengals beat the Bears and lost to the Vikings (the opposite of us), this win would make their win over Chicago more impressive, strength-wise, no?

I believe you are correct. I was a little fuzzy on the rule. As a check, I added up CIN's opponents wins and it came to 105, whereas NE's opponents wins added up to 115, so I couldn't figure out where the difference of 5 came from. I believe it's what you are saying right now.

[SteelAbility]

Ok, I figured it all out and put it on another thread. Go here ...

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9902&p=114282#p114282 (http://www.planetsteelers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9902&p=114282#p114282)

... and see my post with the games in color code. It makes it all pretty clear (I think). :P

[Shoe]

I think the only plausible scenario I see us advancing (assuming... I know that's a big assumption... that the Cheats* and the Bungles actually try) is as follows:

-if New England* legitimately tries, they should win the ballgame.

Leaving Sunday night, with the high probability that it's a pretty meaningless game against the Jets. The Bungles play a lot of scrubs. But still, "Sanchise" absolutely stinks it up... he's looked awful in a lot of contests this year. That is one of our best chances I think.

They can try and give the Jets the game. But we do have a chance, in that the Jets QB is a rookie, prone to horrendous outings.