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The source for back issues of Clint's Corner. Forget a trade? Were Clint's predictions correct? Here's every edition, verbatim.

For 12/4/2002

There for the taking...

At 7-5 with a 2-1 divisional record, the Patriots are tied for 1st place in the AFC East with Miami, one game ahead of the 6-6 Bills and the Jets. The Jets could have done the Patriots a favor on Monday Night by knocking off the Raiders, but with the Oakland victory there are now 3 teams in the AFC with 8-4 records, and the Patriots would lose tiebreakers with each.

A wildcard spot, a pipedream a few weeks ago, is looking a bit more attainable. However, the Patriots best shot to make the playoffs and to succeed once they're there is to win the division. The Patriots need only win their remaining home games to accomplish that. Win or lose in Tennessee, the Patriots would be AFC East Champions no matter what Miami, the Jets, or Buffalo do in their games outside of their visits to Gillette Stadium.

The last time the Patriots beat the Bills, Jets, and Dolphins at home in the same season was 1997. Pete Carroll's Patriots were 7-1 in the division that year and won the East even though they struggled outside the division winning just 3 of 8 games. That season was an excellent example of what's preached all the time in the NFL: while all 16 games count, the division games count the most. If the Pats can finish 5-1 in divisional play, it will matter little if they finish 5-5 or 6-4 against the likes of the Broncos, Packers, Chargers, Raiders and Titans.

Where those "other" teams do become a factor, presuming the Patriots are able to win the division, is in conference seeding. All 4 division winners will host at least one playoff game, but only the #1 and #2 seeds receive the all important bye week while the 3rd and 4th seeds each host a wildcard team the weekend of January 4th and 5th.

As it stands now, the Patriots would lose all tiebreakers to whomever wins the AFC West, unless the planets realign and Kansas City wins that division. In order to receive a higher seed than the West Champion, the Patriots would have to run the table and finish 11-5.

Even though the Raiders and Chargers are each 8-4 at this point, 10-6 for either or both of those clubs is not at all out of the question given their remaining schedules. One of them will receive their 5th loss of the season next week when the two teams meet in San Diego. The 7-5 Broncos will travel to the Meadowlands for a 4pm game against the Jets, and should the Patriots have beaten the Bills by the time that game kicks off, Patriot Nation should be pulling for the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!

Miami will play host to the Raiders the following Sunday, and again, so long as the Pats are 8-5, we should be pulling for the Dolphins to win that game. Even if Miami wins and the Patriots lose at Tennessee, the Patriots are no worse off. They would have to beat Miami at home no matter what Miami's record is entering that contest, and remember that tying the Dolphins is just as good as finishing ahead of them.

In the South, the Colts are currently 8-4, should sleep walk to 10-6 at the very least, and "should" finish 11-5. Tennessee, should they beat the Colts and Patriots in the next two weeks, would also be in great position to finish at 11-5. Even if the Patriots were to finish at 11-5, dropping the Titans to no better than 10-6, they would lose tiebreakers to the 11-5 Colts by virtue of conference record.

In the North, Pittsburgh has 7 wins just like the Pats, but has just 4 losses and 1 tie. Since it's therefore next to impossible to finish with the same record as the Steelers, the tie-breaking advantage that New England has over Pittsburgh will never be applied. The Patriots would have to finish 11-5 in this case as well, since given the Steelers cupcake schedule, they will finish at least 10-5-1.

None of this means a damn thing if the Patriots can't hold onto home field advantage this month, but you can see that while the playoffs seemed in jeopardy on the heels of the Pats 4-game losing streak, suddenly not only the division title, but perhaps a home game and a bye week are there for the taking as well.

While it's great that the Pats will play all of their division opponents at home in December, home field advantage is not enough. The Pats have done well to go 4-1 while playing 4 of their last 5 on the road, but in all of those games, including the loss in Oakland, it all comes down to making more plays than the opponent and not shooting yourself in the foot. Even at home, the Patriots must fight, scratch, and claw for every yard if they expect to continue to be playing into January.

If Buffalo hits on the big plays they hit on last week at home against the Dolphins, the Patriots are in trouble. If the Jets can rebound from their loss to Oakland and get back to playing like they were throughout November, the Pats are in trouble. Should the Titans pick up where they left off in the 2nd half against the Giants last week and defeat the Colts at home, the Pats are in trouble there as well. Lastly, should Jay Fiedler return to form and Ricky Williams is even half as effective as he's been the past few weeks, the Pats are in… no wait… there is no chance in hell the Dolphins can win in Foxboro in December!

If you're thinking the Patriots can still make the playoffs with a loss at home to either the Jets or Dolphins, forget it. A loss in either of those contests is as good as two losses in the standings, given that the Patriots would lose not only a game in the loss column to those teams, but the tiebreakers as well.

It all starts this Sunday at home against the Bills. Don't be fooled by the 38-7 score in Buffalo a few weeks ago. Bledsoe and the Bills will be ready, and will still be fired up after their huge win at home last week over the Dolphins to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

Welcome home Drew! I'll cheer you loudly at the introductions, but after that you're simply wearing the wrong uniform.

See you next week. Go Pats!