Patriots end of season run...
Okay, I was too traumatized to talk about the Miami game. And beating the Texans? Not something to brag about, unless you're the Oakland Raiders. Or Tony Dungy, who I'm sure would love to have the Colts' loss back.
But the Jacksonville game was respectable. Sure, they should have tackled Maurice Jones-Drew, instead of letting him get back up (that's the second time I've seen defenders have stopped playing, permitting an offense to make a key play (see the botched sack on Vince Young by NYG)), and Seymour's roughing the passer gave up another 7 points; but all in all, a nicely executed game. Two games in a row of a well-played game.
At this point, I believe the Patriots are stuck at fourth seed, unless Indy loses and the Pats win. Given the Pats are playing Tennessee, we should be able to count on one, and Indy is playing Miami, which has risen to the challenge late this year (defeating Chicago, New England, and Kansas City), so anything can happen.
In an interesting note, the AFC currently has a nicely collated set of standings. As required by ranking, the top four teams each represent a different division. But so do the next four, the following four, and the four after that (West stands atop the first three foursomes, probably due to the Raiders coming in dead last). The NFC, on the other hand, has East holding three of the top six spots, which could make the playoffs look more like a divisional rivalry. This is buoyed by West's mediocre performance (witness the 8-7 Eagles having clinched that division).
