Here is how I see it going down...

BYE: Texans and Broncos

Wildcard games: Patriots vs Colts, Steelers vs Ravens

How do you see it?

Here is the ESPN Playoff Machine to play around with

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

 

 

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I do not want Pats and Colts. I remember the way over confident Pats against the Jets in 2010. Give us the Bengals or Steelers in the first round.  Someone the team has no reason to be overconfident against.

I have

Hou (#1) and Pats (#2) with byes

wildcard round of

Den (#3) against Pitt (#6)

Balt (#4) against Colts (#5)

 

That's only because I have Den going 3-1 the rest of the way along with the Pats. If Den wins out then the Pats would slip into #3 and Den into #2 which is something I don't want. Playing Den might be rough but in Mile High where the Pats traditionally have trouble could be extremely dangerous

In response to PatsEng's comment:

I might like yours better then mine, however I am still leaning towards not wanting the Pats to have a bye week.  I think come playoffs everyone should be pretty healthy at that point and I think a week off hurts more then helps this team.

Pats stay at # 2 in my opinion.

We actually have a very good shot at # 1 if we win out.

I don't see us slipping to # 3

Pats will get the bye

NE, Den, and Pitt run the table

Hou loses to the Pats Monday night and one of its games vs Andrew Luck, probably the last weekend of the season at Indy

Balt struggles even to go 1-3 the rest of the way against RG3, Gomer, Goober, and Benny's rejuvenated Bengals

NE, Hou, and Den all finish at 13-3

Pats and Texans take number 1 and 2 seeds respectively based on head-to-head

Den, the number 3

Pitt wins the North and the number 4 seed

Indy is my number 5. Balt limps in at 6, although I am starting to wonder if they even make it that far

WC Weekend: Indy at Pitt/Balt at Den

Divisional Round: Den at Hou/Pitt at NE

AFC Championship: Den at NE

AcheNot - like that positive vibe!  Go PATS!!!

In response to AcheNot's comment:

Definitely +1

And for SB 47...

NE vs CHI

NE wins 20-17

In response to PatsEng's comment:

How do you figure this? If the Pats go 3-1 as well as the Broncos, and the Pats lose to the 49'ers, they still have the tie breaked head-to-head vs Denver, and the 3 way tiebreaker with Denver and the Ravens, having only 1 conference loss. The Pats in either case will get the #2 seed. The Pats lose #2 to Denver only if they lose two of their last 4 games. Are you advocating this? 

In response to AcheNot's comment:

Again, in a three way tie, head-to-head doesn't matter. It's conference records. If the Pats lose to Houston, and Denver beats Houston, and the Pats have already beat Denver, who gets trhe highest seed?  It comes down to conference records.

In response to AZPAT's comment:

Yeah, youre right

If my scenario plays out, NE ends up 11-1 in conference. Hou and Den, 10-2

Advantage NE

In response to TFB12's comment:

how could an off week hurt? i'm glad you're not the coach

The Baltimore Ravens will stagger into the #4 slot at 11-5 or maybe 10-6, because Pitt and Cincinnati are no better.

Houston is slated to lose to the Patriots next Monday by 7.7 points.  Then Houston plays two bunny games and Indy in Indy.  Assuming that they beat Indy, Houston will grab the #1 seed at 14-2.  Ka-ching, and a big wet kiss to the scab refs. 

New England will run the table, in the process crushing San Francisco like nobody would expect, by 12.8 points.  They will grab the #2 AFC seed at 13-3. 

Denver will win every game but Baltimore and that game is a tossup.  Denver will finish at 12-4 or 13-3.  I'm mildly surprised that Peyton Manning's neck hasn't fallen off yet, but that was always a possibility.  New England already beat Denver so that NE owns the tiebreaker.

Cincinnati has the best ability of the remainders, followed by Buffalo and Pitt.  Buffalo won't catch up.  Pitt has a cakewalk so they're my wild guess as a #5 seed with a good conference record.  Indy will probably squeak a #6 at 10-6 or, if New England is lucky, 11-5.  

Indy is no good and also Indy will fall apart in a playoff game.  Pitt might possibly beat Baltimore but don't count on it.

Denver at New England in the divisional round, or worse, Baltimore at New England, is a joke.  Denver at Houston would be a relatively tough game with a 4.2 point spread. 

New England at Houston for the championship is statistically a tossup.  New England gets a slight advantage because they always play a team better the second time. 

 

In response to PatsEng's comment:

eng that is the ideal scenario (other than pitt missing the playoffs)

pitt beats denver. hou plays pitt

balt/colts tossup. lets say colts - i prefer. we play colts

then we only play one of balt, pitt and hou.

so youre pulling for balt to beat denver?

In response to AcheNot's comment:

thats not bad either. though im scared of manning playing bbs passive de and not the best secondary. liek that its at home. hoppefully snow.

In response to hang3xc's comment:

i dotn think chicago has a chance to make it to sb. well see

In response to PatsEng's comment:

Agree, playoff game in Denver facing Manning.. Not good. Hopefully we win out and keep home field over Denver. 

I have the colts in the superbowl.  That's all that matters.

Colts have had good year and i hope they beat the Texans but don't see them winning a playoff game. They've exceeded expectations and have a good future. Jetmangione predicted that the jets would make it in as a wild card and win the Super Bowl lol.