Patriot Talk: Week 12 Predictions and a Look-in To Playoff Seedings
Ahead of the bye week, the Patriots suffered a pretty horrendous loss. Rob Gronkowski remained sidelined with injuries, of course, and Julian Edelman also went down. Sony Michel did not look 100%, as he had just 31 yards on 11 carries. James White also looked a bit off, as he suffered a knee injury in the week 9 win over the Packers. But, the bye week gave the Patriots some much needed time off. Gronk looks ready to return, and at a good time too, as Dwayne Allen went down last week. Trent Brown, who had been dealing with an illness last week should be ready to go as well, and Marcus Cannon should be at 100% to replace the inconsistent LaAdrian Waddle. James White should return to normal as well, although with Gronk and Michel back in the fold, he may not get the looks he had at the start of the season. Julian Edelman should also be alright, and he was our best offensive player last week, and will continue to produce. The bye also gave the team time to look at everything that went wrong, and they should gameplan much better heading into next week to face divisional rival New York Jets. With guys coming back and getting healthy, I expect the Patriots to have a big bounce back game.
Prediction: 27-6 Patriots win
Since it was a bye week and there was no recap, let’s dive into the playoff seedings, and what teams the Pats are competing with, and hoping for, in the coming weeks.
Kansas City Chiefs- The Chiefs suffered their second loss of the season against the Rams by a score of 54-51 on Monday Night. They have a bye next week, and then take on the pathetic Raiders, which they should win, to advance to 10-2. After the Raiders, they take on the Baltimore Ravens, which should be yet another win, meaning they should advance to 11-2. They then have a short week, to take on the Chargers on Thursday. The Chargers did suffer an embarrassing loss to a not so good Denver team, but they are still super talented, and with the short week, the Chiefs may just lose. Let’s say they do lose, meaning they now become 11-3. They travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, who have been surprisingly good and hanging in tough games. They are also very difficult to beat in Seattle, and they could be upset, dropping two straight, and becoming 11-4. They finish the year with an easy win over the Raiders, again. Best case scenario, they finish 12-4, and the Patriots beat the Chiefs in Foxboro earlier this season, meaning the Pats would have the tie-breaker. The Pats face the Jets (twice), the Vikings (at home), the Dolphins, the Steelers (in Pittsburgh), and the Bills. They should win all those games, except maybe the game in Pittsburgh, as they are too inconsistent on the road. If they do that, with a current record of 7-3, they would finish 12-4. That means they would finish ahead of the Chiefs. But they need the Chiefs to lose those tough games, and they need to beat Pittsburgh (meaning they’ll finish 13-3) to get the edge.
Pittsburgh Steelers- As expressed earlier, the Patriots should finish 12-4, which means the Steelers will beat New England in my predictions. The Steelers face the Broncos (in Denver), the Chargers (at home), the Raiders, the Saints (in New Orleans), and Cincinnati. The Steelers are currently 7-2-1. With a win against New England later on in the season, they’ll be 8-2-1, but next week they have the Broncos, who are one of, if not, the toughest team to beat in Denver, and are coming off a big upset and fighting to stay alive in the playoff hunt. I think they’ll be upset, bringing them to 8-3-1. The Chargers are a very good team, and I can see them also beating Pittsburgh, meaning they’ll drop to 8-4-1. They should beat the Raiders, making them 9-4-1, but they should get crushed against the Saints, making them 8-5-1. They finish off with Cincinnati, whom they should beat, to close out the season at 9-5-1, meaning the Patriots should finish ahead, even if they lose to Pittsburgh. The Steelers have a very tough schedule down the stretch.
With all that said, along with all the players and rest the Patriots achieved over the week off, plus Burkhead’s incoming return in week 13, the offense will be at its peak. I firmly believe the Patriots still have a good shot at the number one seed in the playoffs. They just have to do their jobs.
