The Patriots will head into the final week of the season with a chance to win one of two first-round byes, and still are alive for the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
The Patriots survived an ugly performance in Jacksonville and beat the Jaguars, 23-16, to improve to 11-4 on the season. The Texans fell to 12-3 with a home loss to the surging 9-6 Vikings. The Broncos easily handled the Browns in Denver to match Houston at 12-3.
As a result, the Patriots can win the No. 1 seed next week with a win over the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium, a Denver loss at home to Kansas City and a Texans loss to the Colts in Indianapolis. That would give the Patriots, Broncos and Texans all records of 12-4 record, and the Patriots beat both teams in their head-to-head meetings.
The Patriots can still win a first-round bye if they beat Miami, and the Broncos or Texans lose, giving the Patriots the No. 2 seed. If the Patriots lose, they will not have a first-round bye and will be playing the weekend of Jan. 5-6. The Patriots would finish No. 3 if they beat Miami and Houston and Denver both win next week. The Patriots will also finish No. 3 if they lose and the Ravens lose in Cincinnati in Week 17. If the Ravens and Patriots finish tied at 11-5, the Ravens will be the No. 3 seed and the Patriots No. 4 based on Baltimore's 31-30 win on Sept. 23.
Cincinnati and Indianapolis both won on the road Sunday, clinching the final two playoff spots in the AFC. Both the Bengals and Colts will be wild cards as the Ravens clinched the AFC North with a win over the Giants in Baltimore. The Colts will enter the playoffs as the No. 5 seed while the Bengals will be the No. 6 seed based on common games.
Here are the AFC playoff seedings after Sunday's games:
1. Texans (12-3, AFC South champs, beat Broncos head-to-head)
2. Broncos (12-3, AFC West champs, lost to Texans head-to-head)
3. Patriots (11-4, AFC East champs)
4. Ravens (10-5, AFC North champs)
5. Colts (10-5, wild card No. 1)
6. Bengals (9-6, wild card No. 2)
For more, visit the Patriots team page at weei.com/patriots and the blog It Is What It Is.
Pete joined the show to discuss Tebow's signing with the Patriots. He said that Tim Tebow cant play and that he has trouble learning NFL playbooks.
On this episode of the It Is What It Is Cast, Chris Price talks with the Boston Herald's Jeff P Howe about the Patriots offseason, Rob Gronkowski's back surgery, Danny Amendola replacing Wes Welker, and how this seasons team will stack up against last seasons.
In the latest edition of the It Is What It Is Cast, Chris Price talks with Will Carroll. Injury expert and lead writer for Sports Medicine, Bleacher Report. They talk about the injury to Rob Gronkowski and what his back surgery could mean for his season.
Jeff joined the show to discuss the rumors of Doc heading to the Clippers. Jeff said that he will not discuss his future but that his brother would be a great candidate anywhere.
Stephen A. joined the show to discuss the status of trade negotiations between the Clippers and the Celtics. Stephen said that it is a 50-50 proposition that Doc ends up in Los Angeles.
Grande and Max take more calls on the Celtics and discuss what lies ahead for Doc Rivers with Steve Bulpett.
We check in with Red Sox skipper John Farrell for our weekly Sox update and get the latest on the injury to Clay Buchholz, and a whole lot more.
John Farrell postgame press conference
Joe & Dave talked to the Sox outfielder, who pounded the ball out of the park to win the second game of the doubleheader against the Rays.
The Bruins have looked quite good taking a 2-1 lead on the Blackhawks, but Shawn Thornton says the team is not getting ahead of itself. Thornton also talks about what makes Patrice Bergeron such a great player and teammate. He also squeezes in a few shots at his friend Keegan Bradley.
Pierre McGuire joins Mut and Merloni after a Bruins win and discusses the play of Rask and the defense, the Hossa injury, and Jagr.
Tony Amonte calls out Marian Hossa for missing Game 3 and recaps the Bruins win.
The Bruins have looked quite good taking a 2-1 lead on the Blackhawks, but Shawn Thornton says the team is not getting ahead of itself. Thornton also talks about what makes Patrice Bergeron such a great player and teammate. He also squeezes in a few shots at his friend Keegan Bradley.
Keegan Bradley hopped on the set in Connecticut with D&C to talk some golf, but seeing as how he's a big Boston sports fan, the interview covered a lot of ground. You can hear Keegan talk about the Bruins' Cup chances, the Doc Rivers deal that almost was, and Shawn Thornton's lacking golf game.
Legal expert Michael McCann joined D&C to take on the topic of the day: Just what exactly is happening with Aaron Hernandez? McCann addressed Hernandez' lack of cooperation in the investigation so far, and how that may play out as the case moves along.
LB joins Mut and Merloni and discusses the Stanley Cup Finals and takes phone calls from listeners.
Despite many other important newsworthy items, the Boston Herald decided it was appropriate to put a story about Mut and Lou sending a vulgar cake to a Chicago radio station on the front page of today’s paper. Mut and Merloni respond, make it clear it was just a good natured joke and not meant to offend anyone.
Buster joins the program to discuss the problems of Andrew Bailey, what closers are available in the market, the Buchholz injury, and the latest in the biogensis scandal.
We talk about the developing Aaron Hernandez story line and look at it from the context of 'the Patriot Way', the theory that the Patriots only deal with high character athletes. Is that Patriot way gone? Did it ever even exist? We discuss.
We check in with Jack Edwards live on location for an hour of Stanley Cup preview. Jack warns us all not to get overconfident, the Bruins haven't won anything yet.
We talk pucks with the lovely and talented Kathryn Tappen of the NHL Network and preview game 4 of the Stanley Cup final and beyond.
Mikey gets a surprise call from Red Sox legend Bernie Carbo. They talk about old-time baseball and Bernie's new book.
Mikey talks with Tom and Luke about their new movie, "Plimpton!" and finds out what it was like to try to encapsulate everything George Plimpton accomplished during his life.
Today on the Daily Planet, the Red Sox and Yankees face off in the Bronx, Claude Julien doesn't want players wasting energy, and Dwight Howard and free agency.
You ask us, we answer it. Or you ask Jack, he answers it.
You ask, we answer. Today featuring NESN's Jack Edwards.
The new way we end the show. You ask, we answer.
Legal expert Michael McCann joined D&C to take on the topic of the day: Just what exactly is happening with Aaron Hernandez? McCann addressed Hernandez' lack of cooperation in the investigation so far, and how that may play out as the case moves along.
More from this showDon Cherry joined the show to discuss the Cup finals. He said that he still thinks the Bruins will win the series over Chicago. Grapes added that he would not give Evgeni Malkin a dime and called him a loser.
More from this showJohn Saucier has his first hosting gig today and gets things started with some background on how his Sauce-man style has been wrecking things on the Boston airwaves
More from this showPierre McGuire joins Mut and Merloni after a Bruins win and discusses the play of Rask and the defense, the Hossa injury and Jagr.
More from this showThe Bruins have looked quite good taking a 2-1 lead on the Blackhawks, but Shawn Thornton says the team is not getting ahead of itself. Thornton also talks about what makes Patrice Bergeron such a great player and teammate. He also squeezes in a few shots at his friend Keegan Bradley.
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