Patriots shooting for top seed in playoffs
Sticking to the company line they've toed
throughout Bill Belichick's tenure in New England, the Patriots refuse
to acknowledge the upcoming playoffs, including where they stand among
their conference rivals and who they might play two weeks from now in
their postseason opener.
"I (couldn't) care less who we play," nose tackle
Vince Wilfork said. "The only thing for sure now is that we have one
game in the regular season left and one playoff game right now. Where
it is, who knows?
"One, two seed -- who knows? (I) really don't
care. Our main goal is playing good football, (and) being able to play
good football. You can't compare any other season to this, because each
one is different. You have different players, you have different
coaches, and you have different teams in the playoffs, so you really
can't compare."
To some extent, Wilfork is right; you can't
compare 2011 to any other season in Patriots' history, not even last
year when they entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the AFC
despite question marks on defense and promptly got bounced at home by
the Jets in the divisional playoffs.
The point is, despite losing their last two
playoff games at home (including two years ago against Baltimore), the
Patriots still want every advantage they can get, including home-field
advantage throughout the playoffs, which they can wrap up Sunday with a
win over Buffalo.
Being the No. 1 seed doesn't guarantee a
particular opponent, but it does mean that for at least one round they
can avoid whoever finishes with the No. 2 seed, which will either be
Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
The Ravens have already proven they can win a
playoff game in Foxboro, as evidenced by their 33-14 wild-card victory
in 2009, and the Steelers have already beaten New England this season,
albeit in Pittsburgh. The only way that scenario could repeat itself in
the playoffs is if the Patriots lose Sunday, Pittsburgh beats Cleveland
to earn the No. 1 seed via tiebreaker, and both the Patriots and
Steelers advance to the AFC title game, which, under that scenario,
would be held at Heinz Field.
The Patriots would never admit this publicly, but
there's no doubt they'd rather host a potential playoff showdown
against the Steelers rather than go back to Pittsburgh, where they were
dominated on both sides of the ball in a 25-17 loss on Oct. 30.
The team spokesmen, such as Wilfork, will say all
the right things leading up to Sunday, but there's no denying the
importance of obtaining the No. 1 seed, if for nothing else than to
avoid the teams New England doesn't match up well against for at least
one round.
"The one thing we can do is play better, coach
better, (and) just do the little things right," Wilfork said. "That's
what we can control."
--No need to worry about whether anyone will get
too much rest this weekend in anticipation of the playoffs, because the
New England Patriots still have something to play for in their season
finale against Buffalo.
Winners of seven consecutive games, the Patriots
can wrap up the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a win, which would guarantee
that the AFC's road to the Super Bowl will have to travel through
Foxboro. A loss Sunday and win by Pittsburgh would push New England to
the No. 2 seed by virtue of a tie-breaker (the Patriots lost at
Pittsburgh earlier this season).
The good news is the Patriots have the perfect
opponent in place for a signature victory; they haven't lost at home to
Buffalo in 11 years, plus they're coming off a loss earlier this season
at Ralph Wilson Stadium, which snapped their 15-game winning streak
against Buffalo.
Suffice to say, there's plenty of motivation with
the playoffs on the horizon. The Patriots know they're a much better
team at home than they are on the road despite the fact they've lost
their last two home playoff games. So, amidst all the talk of the
upcoming Pro Bowl -- the Patriots had eight players selected to the
roster -- the focus, as usual, is on the team's goals.
"We have other plans, hopefully, and we've got a
big game this week," quarterback Tom Brady said. "We could really put
ourselves in a good position if we win it. It's a team we lost to
before, and we've got to go out and play well."
When these teams played in Week 3, the Patriots
led, 21-0, in the second quarter, yet suffered a shocking, 34-31, loss
that kept Buffalo unbeaten at 3-0 and handed New England its first loss
of the season.
The tables have turned drastically over the past
few months. The Bills have hit hard times, losing nine of their last 12
since that win over New England, and are officially out of the playoff
race while the Patriots are on the precipice of wrapping up the No. 1
seed in the conference.
"They've been in a lot of close games all year --
some they've won and some they've lost," Patriots' head coach Bill
Belichick said of the Bills. "They've been very competitive -- the Jets
game is a good example; it came down to the last play. Our game came
down to the last possession. They're in every game. It just comes down
to who makes the plays at the end of the game -- them or their
opponents."
This is eerily similar to the scenario the teams
faced in the 2003 season finale at Gillette Stadium. That year, the
Bills won their season opener against New England, 31-0, at home, but
the Patriots put the finishing touches on their 14-2 season with an
equally embarrassing 31-0 win over the Bills in the finale. The
Patriots eventually went on to win the Super Bowl.
Whether this season ends in similar fashion
remains to be seen, but the Patriots could assert themselves as the AFC
favorite if they clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs.
That's what's most at state Sunday, even though the players won't admit
it publicly.
"It's not something that we talk about at all,"
Brady said. "I think what we've talked about is trying to beat a
Buffalo team that's coming here and always plays us tough and a team
that beat us earlier in the year.
"We're not thinking about anything beyond this
weekend. I keep saying that every week. I know you guys probably think
I'm full of crap, but it's a very short-term, focused team. We just try
to stay focused on the present, and that's trying to have good
practices and ultimately be prepared for our game on Sunday."
SERIES HISTORY: 103rd regular-season meeting.
Patriots lead series, 60-41-1. New England has won 15 of the last 16
games against Buffalo with the lone loss coming earlier this season in
Buffalo, snapping the 15-game win streak against the Bills that ranked
third among all-time winning streaks against a single opponent in NFL
history. Buffalo has never won at Gillette Stadium; the Bills are 0-9
lifetime in New England's new facility and haven't won in Foxboro since
2000.
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