Would Jets or Pats Have Done Better?

Random thought on my way to work today...

 

Let's see the New York Jets or New England Patriots made the playoffs as the AFC East squad instead of the Miami Dolphins...would they have done any better? Could they have been playing in Tampa in two weeks?

 

First, let's look at the Jets. In the Week 13 Power Rankings, they were ranked 3rd. THIRD! Granted they had just beat the previously unbeaten Titans to win their 5th in a row. But the comment ended with "...and made them the team to beat in the AFC." Well, sort of. After that, everyone beat them. They ended the season 1-4 and out of the playoffs. In retrospect, a lot of people were overhyping the Jets at that point in the season. With the division under their control, they lost key games to Denver at home (by 17 points) and then at San Fran and Seattle who combined for 9 non-Jets wins.

 

I truly believe that the Jets were no better than any AFC playoff team. I don't think they would have won one game. What a difference a few weeks makes. On November 30th they were third in the power rankings, everyone was hailing the defense, Brett Favre (who threw SIX TDs against Arizona), Mangini and everything else about the team. Less than a month later they were out of the playoffs, we had Can-gini followed by Rex Ryan hired as coach, Favre is considered by most to be washed up, and Jets fans have been miserable.

 

On the Pats side, it may have been a little different. Although they finished 11-5, they lost the tiebreaker with Miami and finished out of the playoffs. Here was New England's 5 losses on the season: Lost to Miami (playoff team), lost at San Diego (Playoff team), lost at Indy (playoff team), lost to the aforementioned Jets in OT, and lost to the Steelers (who are now in the Super Bowl). The problem is we don't know if the Pats could beat playoff teams. They beat the Dolphins in Week 12 and the Cardinals in Week 16...but the Cards had nothing to play for in that game and seemed to be mailing it in.

I think the Pats would have been an interesting team in the playoffs. Let's say that the Jets beat the Fins to end the season and the Pats made the playoffs as the #4 seed. They would have played Baltimore at home which could definitely have produced different results than the 27-9 drumming Miami endured. If they won that game (and all other things being equal), they would have faced Pittsburgh in round 2. I believe this is where the Pats would have been done. But anything is possible in the playoffs. I mean the Cards are in the Super Bowl...