My 2 cents - The Patriots made their own bed by losing to the wrong teams.
The Dolphins won the tiebreaker based on a 8-4 AFC Record to a 7-5 record for the Patriots.
Patriots schedule of wins and losses.
Kansas City W 17-10
at San Diego L 10-30
Denver W 41-7
at Indianapolis L 15-18
Pittsburgh L 10-33
at Oakland W 49-26
AFC non East Record 3-3
AFC East record 4-2
AFC Record 7-5 (No Baltimore)
Dolphins record of wins and losses.
San Diego W 17-10
at Houston L 28-29
Baltimore L 13-27
at Denver W 26-17
Oakland W 17-15
at Kansas City W 38-31
AFC non East Record 4-2
AFC East Record 4-2
AFC Record 8-4 (No Pittsburg or Indianapolis)
NFC Record
Patriots 4-0
Dolphins 3-1
Dolphins lost to Arizona 31-10
Patriots beat Arizona 47-7
The Patriots are the first 11-5 team to not make
the postseason since the 1985 Broncos, 23 years.
The worst loss of the season and one the Patrots
probably regret losing the most (even more than
Colts game) was losing in OT to the Jets,
Losing to the Jets at home on Nov. 13 in which Brett Favre
(Thats right the same Brett Farve who shit the bed last Sunday
at home against Miami throwing 3 ints) somehow carried the Jets to
the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter and the game-winning
drive in overtime at Gillette Stadium to win by a score of 34-31..
The loss wasted a brilliant effort by Matt Cassel,who
completed 30 of 51 passes for 400 yards, all career highs,
He also threw for three touchdowns and ran eight times for 62 yards,
sixth-most in team history for a quarterback.
The the most since Steve Grogan ran for 65 in back to back games in 1978.
The Patriots are not crying over any of it, rules are rules, schedules
are schedules and all teams suffer tons of injuries, even losing players
like 2007 league MVP Tom Brady.
Having learned their playoff fate, the Patriots instead focused
on what they accomplished despite losing Brady et al. No matter how you slice it 11-5 is still pretty good in the NFL where only five teams surpassed it.
“I think the players gave us all they had. I respect this group of guys immensely,” coach Bill Belichick said. “They’ve worked hard, they’ve put up with me all year, and they fought through a lot of adversity. … Mentally and physically, they’re a tough football team.”
As a fan, I don't feel bad, I have never been one to root for my team
to back into the playoffs. They had their chances to win against the Colts
and Jets and didn't get it done. so it's time to get out the golf clubs and
go to Florida for the Pats. With both the Celtics and Bruins playing great Boston isn't eactly a diaster area sports wise.
Hats off to Chad Penington and The Miami Dolphins, I hope they beat up on Baltimore this weekend.
wil..
