RichardSeymour

Yes, the Pats are the better team right now. But teams get worse as the season goes on (cf. 2007 Patriots) for varying reasons, and maybe these Pats will get worse. Teams also get better as the season goes on (cf. 2001 Patriots and, thus far, 2010 Patriots) for varying reasons, and maybe the Jets will get better. But moreover even if the Pats STAY better, a little luck and you guys could win the division anyway. Far from clear the Pats will have the tiebreaker so right now you're only 1 behind NE. If you win out in the division and the pats lose a divisional game (Any given sunday...) you'll have the tiebreaker. It's not easy, but there it is. Head to head tiebreaker is now a wash, Both teams are 3-1 in the divisional tiebreaker. This is your best bet. By my math the Pats are 7-1 in common games, the Jets are 6-2. The Jets need to make up one game anyway and all of the remaining games for both teams are common games. So if the two finished tied in W/L this tiebreaker should be a wash. The next tiebreaker is Strength of Victory... I'm pretty sure the Pats are likely to take this but it all depends. Jets have lost to excellent teams thus far. Pats have a loss to middling Cleveland and have wins against Indy and SD vs the Jets wins against Houston and Denver. BTW, NFL *totally* needs to make playoff seedings purely a matter of record. It'll be bull**** if you guys end up 12-4 or 13-3 and end up having to play on the road against teams with worse records.

Actually this was an awesome and satisfying win. But for the Jets it was 1986 all over again. Have fun with that. I'm kidding. Mostly.

I'm not fat, I'm bigboned. (Actually, have you seen Seymour without pads on? The man is not fat. I saw video of him a few months ago at a press conference and I swear he lost whatever little bit of babyfat he had left on him, the guy looked as svelte as a 300+ lb D-lineman could possibly look. I'm actually suspicious that he might have dropped down to 290 or so, because it was just hard to believe that he was still north of 300. He really is just big-boned.)

The old DeWayne Robetson vs Ty Warren, Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson, Vince Wilfork, and $$$ draft debate just keeps getting funnier and funnier as the years go by. Even two years ago when it was clear that the Pats did a better job in that 2003 draft, plenty of Jets fans still insisted that Robertson was a better player than Warren. Now it's just a dead horse. I love Seymour, he's my f*cking boy, but Warren was the best D-lineman on the field for the Pats last year (my hunch, like that of many Pats fans, is that Sey was hampered by injuries). He was a bull on the corner, a monster when single teamed and a handful against the double teams that he started to get as the weather got colder. He deserved to go to the pro-bowl, and his snub ranks up there with the Jamal Williams snubs of recent years. Love that they extended him... but... the terms are just confusing. They had him signed for around 2/$4 mil for the next two years. The company line is that they don't ever rip up a contract. If so, by giving Warren $36/5, they effectively gave him a $32 million dollar 3-year extension, with most of it guaranteed. Is Warren worth $7.2 million? Yes. Is he worth $10.7 million? Ummm... uh... hoo... I love the guy, and it's a brave new cap world out there but... If one considers this as a $32/3 deal, then Seymour is now the 2nd highest payscale guy on that D-line. That just seems wrong... Hell of a vote of confidence in Warren from the Pats FO. Even with all the money tied up in Warren and Seymour, I see zero chance of the Pats not moving with similar decisiveness on Wilfork. Wilfork will get extended if his agent is realistic, and if he doesn't he'll get the tag, that is, unless Wilfork drops off. Definitely a feel-good move on paper, and I'd be FINE with the money if Warren was in Asante Samuel's zero-years-left situation... but with two years left it was... a strange move. I'm guessing that the Pats felt that Warren's FA value was huge, and that if they didn't act now the payscale for DEs was only gonna get less favorable (Peppers is reportedly close to getting an extension, which should be monster). I know that on KFFL several niners fans were upset about Warren's extension, having him on their longterm radar. Hope all the old-timers are doing well. Any of the old timers from the DC area ('fish?) with any advice about the city itself should shoot me a PM if they feel generous. Moving down there in two weeks to start law school. Worst of luck to you b*stards this season.

The idea that Belichick wants to "win one and get out" is sorta undercut by the fact that the Pats traded their 1st for a future 1st and their 3rd for a future 3rd. You don't usually stockpile 5 day 1 picks for the year after you plan to leave...

I dislike the move because of the pick. But you're an idiot if you think we have any real clue how much money they "really" gave Welker. Welk's an RFA. There will be a poison pill clause. This deal could be 5 years/15 mil, with 24 in dead weight at the end that gets guaranteed if Welk plays a single game in a teal uniform. This deal could be 5/20, 5/25, 5/30, 3/10, 4/28... More so than most contracts, the "face value" tells us next to nothing.

I'll bet $50 even money that the Pats will win the AFC East against $50 that the Jets will win the AFC East with any Jets fan here who is a true "old timer" (ie. guys like Max, GJ&H, GOB, etc who I "know" well enough to trust). Bills or Phins win = no money changes hands. No one should take that bet. It's a "good bet" on my part and most here know it. if people truly felt that "this is the year that the Jets overtake the Patriots", they'd take the bet. I doubt anyone will, because while most here (correctly) think the jets might do so, few think they will. I'll also bet similar terms that the Colts win their division, for instance. Not that I'm hating on the Jags, I just think, gosh, the Colts SHOULD be the favorites.

Right. I'm not saying the Jets can't win or won't win. I'm not even saying that they might not have a "very good chance" to win. I'm just saying that the Patriots should be the favorites right now to win the division.

Wow, I don't feel so bad for TX anymore. I'm glad he's doing so well.

The Jets have been threats to win the division, to varying degrees, every year since 2003. When people say, "this is the year the Jets surpass the Patriots" they imply likelihood, because obviously in ANY year they could surpass the Patriots. Does anyone here think that the Jets are more likely to win the division than the Patriots right now? Or that such will probably be true by the end of the offseason? The Patriots will be the favorites on opening day to win the division, and they should be. That doesn't mean they will.

Perish the thought. Would you send Shakespeare to the gulag? Would you send Leonardo da Vinci to Alcatraz? I hope that you're joking. TX is this board's best and brightest.

One of the dominant memes around here in recent offseasons has been, "this is the year that the Jets overtake the Pats." Alongside this has been the ongoing, "the Pats window has closed" arguments. The Pats decisive movement in FA should, I believe, blow both of these out of the water. Now that's not to say that the Jets won't overtake the Pats, or that the Pats might not abruptly falter and find themselves on the outside looking in in terms of contending for an SB. But when someone says, "this is the year the Jets overtake the Pats", the implication is that the Jets will probably do so. That a Jets divisional win is more likely than a Patriots divisional win. The Pats came within a few plays of making the superbowl last year. They retained their #1 free agent (Samuel), and now it appears that they will add a very high quality #3 WR to fill the Chrebet/Troy Brown role, in addition to adding a premier "elephant" LB in FA. They also have two 1st round draft picks. The Jets will contend for the division title this year, of that there's little doubt. But on balance there is no reason to expect the Pats to be weaker this year, and no reason to believe that their window is closed. So can we can all that talk until next offseason, kids?

Both the Patriots and 49ers have made contact with the All-Pro Baltimore linebacker, who has made plans to visit both clubs, possibly starting as early as Saturday. Thomas, who finished 2006 with a career-best 11 sacks and made the Pro Bowl team for the first time, is considered the most attractive prospect in this year's free-agent class. In addition, the New York Jets are a third team that has expressed strong interest in Thomas and is determined to stay competitive in the bidding for his services, a league source said. from Don Banks at SI...

If you could trade Robertson for Wilfork straight up, would you? Or is Wilfork too fat?

http://patscap.com/futureyears.html