Hat & T-Shirt Game? How The Patriots Can Clinch This Weekend
BOSTON (CBS) -- The 11-2 New England Patriots can clinch both the AFC East and a first-round bye this weekend, and they don't even need a victory to do so.
A win over the Broncos in Denver on Sunday would give New England their eighth straight AFC East crown and a week off when the playoffs begin. But they can clinch their division the night before if the 8-5 Miami Dolphins lose to or tie the New York Jets on Saturday night.
New England could also clinch that first-round bye with a loss if Miami loses (or ties) and the Pittsburgh Steelers lose to (or tie) the Bengals in Cincinnati or Miami loses (or ties) and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans.
A Steelers loss would drop them to 8-6 on the season and guarantee that the Patriots would finish with a better record than them. A Chiefs win (which would improve their record to 11-3) would mean the Broncos can't win the AFC West, and would eliminate any chance that the Pats lose their first-round by due to a head-to-head tiebreaker with Denver.
Elsewhere in the AFC playoff picture, the 10-3 Oakland Raiders visit the 5-8 San Diego Chargers. The Raiders currently trail the Chiefs in the AFC West due to a head-to-head tiebreaker, but own the first wild card spot in the conference. The 8-5 Broncos hold the second wild card thanks to a tiebreaker over the Dolphins based on best win percentage in common games.
The Patriots cannot clinch the 1-seed in the AFC this weekend, but the Chiefs would be eliminated from that equation with a loss and a New England win. The Raiders would still be in the running for the top seed if they can win the AFC West and finish the season with the same record as the Pats, as they still own a tiebreaker over the Patriots due to common games (that Week 4 loss to Buffalo is looming large in that scenario).
Bottom line is if the Patriots take care of business against the Broncos, they'll be sitting pretty and in the driver's seat for that top overall seed in the AFC. They could still get a new hat and t-shirt for their collection this weekend if they can't exorcise their demons in Denver, but they'd be better off not relying on help from other teams.
The Patriots winning out would make it a whole lot easier, for all of us.
Tune in to Patriots-Broncos on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV -- the flagship stations of the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning on WBZ with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. and Patriots 5th Quarter will wrap it all up on myTV38 following the game. Coverage begins on 98.5FM with Patriots Preview at 1:30 p.m. with three hours of postgame coverage following the game. After Patriots coverage, tune in to Rough Injustice: The 1976 New England Patriots on 98.5 The Sports Hub!
