316's Guide On Who To Root For

Because it can get a bit complicated. Here we go...

Pats VS Colts: PATS. I know it goes against every fiber of your being. I know I said we had to root for the Pats to lose just two weeks ago. But now we want them to win and here's why: it would give the Colts a 7th loss with 3 games left and besides, the Pats have the division all but locked up. Which means that come the finale they might be resting starters...

Titans VS Steelers: TITANS. It's very important that the Steelers get that 7th loss because of that damn Lions tie giving them a half-game advantage over the Fins. (And you might as well root for the Titans to win next week to because they face the 49ers.)

Bengals Vs Broncos: BRONCOS. This was a tough one since they're both 7-6 but ultimately we need the Bengals to get at least one more conference loss and the Broncos face the Raiders, Chargers and Chiefs down the stretch so there's plenty of opportunity for them to lose again.

Browns Vs Raiders: BROWNS. A Raiders loss drops them below the Fins (if the Fins win out) and negates the tiebreaker advantage they have, at least ideally. Plus with that 8th loss we can root for them to beat the Broncos later.

It should go without saying that we root for the Packers and Panthers to beat the Ravens and Bills. So..GO P TEAMS!!!

Also, we want the Falcons to beat the 49ers for draft position and stuff.

Great report 316!

Welp, last I checked the Pats were trailing 17-0. Now even if they come back and win I'm not sure the endless media fellating of Mac Jones will be worth it.

New plan: Bills win the Pats rematch dropping them to 6 losses just like I wanted going into the finale the whole time.

Colts haven’t really had a plan at QB since Luck retired, but they are stout on both sides of the line of scrimmage, gritty and physical as hell. Also love how they run the ball.

Respect.

white1 wrote:Colts haven’t really had a plan at QB since Luck retired, but they are stout on both sides of the line of scrimmage, gritty and physical as hell. Also love how they run the ball.

Respect.

The Raiders, Jags and Falcons losses are all woulda coulda shouldas, but the Colts legit whipped this team, and the game wasn't nearly as close as the final score. And of course they also curbstomped the Bills. If they faced the Ravens right now they'd whip them too but were unlucky enough to have played that game when the Ravens were going through their Houdini-style escape job phase that was ended by the Fins

I'm thinking now that maybe it would be better for this team if the Colts could win the AFC South because then their tiebreaker advantage wouldn't come into play and if the Fins won out that would at least give them tiebreakers over the Titans and Ravens.

This particular Pats team BTW before tonight was looking as strong as almost any Brady-era Pats team at this point of the season. 4th best point differential through 13 games of any Pats team since '01. Also, the highest PD in the league this season. So this is either a fluke or the Colts are actually that good. (I'm typing this not knowing what the score is right now BTW.)

https://stathead.com/football/tgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&order_by_asc=0&order_by=points_diff&year_min=2001&year_max=2021&game_type=R&team_id=nwe&game_num_min=1&game_num_max=13&week_num_min=0&week_num_max=99&temperature_gtlt=lt

Another interesting Pats note: Four teams in their history have finished a season with a PD of +195 or more (all in the Belichick-Brady era as you'd expect). NONE of those teams won a Super Bowl, and only one of them even got there

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/

I know I've hijacked my own thread but I find the irony of the Pats losing to a QB who threw all of 12 passes for 57 yards after what happened in their previous game to be quite delicious indeed

It's scary that Mac Freaking Jones almost led a comeback from 20 down, but the key word there is "almost". The Pats can be had, folks. They are not the superhuman juggernaut they appeared to be before this game, which is why they had 4 losses before this game.

First win by the Colts over the Pats since '09 BTW No wonder I assumed the Pats would win tonight. Turns out all they had to do was get rid of those Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck goofs and get a real QB like Wentz

Jonathan Taylor, the very back I coveted, had 170 yards and a TD. The Patriots of used the running game to pound teams into a loss. Now the Colts doing it to the Pats was sweet. Still angry we chose Iggy over Taylor.

Welp, the Titans and Panthers both delivered lumps of coal. Meh.

But the important thing was a Fins win and TBH if the Bengals and Raiders win it's actually not the end of the world. The Ravens on the other hand *really* need to lose two more. The AFC North going 4-0 would be bad

The 49ers absolutely can beat the Titans next week, and if that happens then a Fins win would give them the tiebreaker after all. So once again we have to root for our draft position to get a bit lower.

CarsonChris wrote:Jonathan Taylor, the very back I coveted, had 170 yards and a TD. The Patriots of used the running game to pound teams into a loss. Now the Colts doing it to the Pats was sweet. Still angry we chose Iggy over Taylor.

Imagine having Taylor in this offense instead of a CB who literally can barely see the field, and even then only on special teams...

And now if you'll excuse me, I have a pillow to sob into

YESS!!! RAVENS LOSE, BABY!!!

Seriously, this is HUGE for the Fins. Just one more loss by the Ravens would drop them behind this team in the playoff pecking order. And they face the Bengals, Rams and Steelers down the stretch. No way are they winning out. And even if I'm wrong they'd hand the Bengals and Steelers another loss which would also help the Fins

I won't be doing this again next week though seeing as every other game (so far) turned out the opposite of how I wanted and so now I think I'm a jinx

I love that you've been doing this...great work, don't stop!

JMP wrote:I love that you've been doing this...great work, don't stop!

I'll think about it. The first two times haven't worked out very well.

I can tell you that I read somewhere last week that the Fins have around an 85% chance of making the playoffs if they win out, period.

the Herald has a very long (so long and convoluted i stopped reading) explanation of how the Phins can make the playoff, but it seems to most simply come down to...

In the convoluted quest to determine the Dolphins’ playoff chances, start with this:

1. The Dolphins likely need to win their three remaining games to make the postseason.

2. Dolphins fans should root for the teams that beat the Dolphins head-to-head to win their divisions over teams that didn’t. That means root for Buffalo and Indianapolis.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article256692632.html

but even that isn't foolproof. read the full scenarios at your own risk.

If the Bills win Sunday and the Dolphins win their final three games, Miami has a 99 percent chance to make the playoffs, per fivethirtyeight.com. But if the Patriots win on Sunday and the Dolphins win their final three games, Miami’s chances to make the postseason sink to 54 percent.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article256473141.html

can't they both lose? or would a tie be even worse?

(ssshhh, don't tell anyone...i'm not entirely convinced the Phins will even win out so i don't think it really matters who wins)

You had ONE job, 49ers

That was a Very Bad Result. We wanted the Colts to win the division so their tiebreaker wouldn't come into play, but that's got pretty much no chance of happening now, since the Titans swept the Colts and are now a game ahead with 2 left, meaning they'd have to now lose out. Also if the Titans had lost last night then the Fins could've gotten the tiebreaker over them in the next game.

It seems like almost all the results we need are going the opposite way, but I'm just going to worry about what this team does from now on. The one good thing is that by the time Monday rolls around we'll have a much better idea of where they stand, and the players themselves won't be distracted by what's going on in any other games. Maybe. For all I know the league might move half the games to Monday because the virus.

One thing is definitely for sure--unless there's a historic rash of ties most of the other 6 and 7 loss teams will lose one more. The Ravens, Bengals, Browns and Steelers all face each other at least once. The Broncos face the Raiders, Chargers and Chiefs. The Chargers and Raiders will meet. The Chiefs also get a chance to knock off the Bengals and Steelers. The Browns have to deal with the Packers. Even the Colts could lose one more to the Cards. And the Ravens get to face the Rams. It's simply not possible for at least four of these teams to not lose one more time at least.

Really looking like we dug just too big a hole. Hey, losing to Jacksonville (the most inexcusable of the losses IMO) will do that.

Tennessee starting to get healthy at the just the wrong time for us, and getting three extra days to prepare for a home game with us. Going to be a real tough hurdle, but it won't matter if we don't take care of business Monday night.

I just want to see back to back seasons over .500. That will tell me we have a real shot at something significant in 2022 as long as Tua is the starting QB.

The formula remains the same from what I can see: we need the Bills to won today, and we need to win out. Anything else, and we're done.

Now THIS is more like it!!!

Bills beat Pats, Browns get their 8th loss, Ravens get their 7th loss, the Herberts somehow lose to the Texans and the Steelers are going to lose to KC, seeing as they're currently trailing 30-0

Only real bad result after the Titans-Niners fiasco was the Colts winning, but all that means at this point is that they still have a slim chance of winning the AFC South and that damn tiebreaker over the Fins not mattering. Every Colt fan will be rooting HARD for the Fins next week. That's what's called "irony" I believe.

The Raiders win is annoying, but now they've got to face the Colts and Herberts. Good luck with that (Although it would be hilarious to see the Herberts knocked out of the playoffs altogether.)

OK, we win 3 and we're in.  We control our own destiny!!!

JMP wrote:OK, we win 3 and we're in.  We control our own destiny!!!

Is this official??? What's your source???

Here's one

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-standings-2021-playoff-picture-week-16/kcrneq7ppue4199mcpqaabpqj

This week gave us all the positioning we're likely to get, save the Raiders losing one more.

Bottom line, I just hope we can keep hope alive for one more week tonight. After the godawful start, I'll take any post-Christmas NFL excitement I can get.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:OK, we win 3 and we're in.  We control our own destiny!!!

Is this official??? What's your source???

I think the KC victory over Pittsburgh made it possible.

https://www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/news/miami-dolphins-now-in-control-of-their-playoff-fate

It was a very good Sunday for the Miami Dolphins, as they sat waiting for their Monday night matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

And the best news of all was this: The Dolphins control their playoff fate.

The Dolphins also could move into the seventh spot in the AFC standings (the last playoff position) with a victory at New Orleans, but that's not even the best part.

Yes, the Dolphins — after their 1-7 start — no longer need any outside help to make the playoffs if they can continue their winning streak through their final three games of the season and finish with a 10-7 record, according to prediction and projection website FiveThirtyEight.com.

HalCHorn wrote:This week gave us all the positioning we're likely to get, save the Raiders losing one more.

Bottom line, I just hope we can keep hope alive for one more week tonight.  After the godawful start, I'll take any post-Christmas NFL excitement I can get.

You said it, Hal. Win tonight and take it from there. Keep the excitement going!!