LAS VEGAS — By slapping the hapless Jets around 42-10 on Sunday, the Patriots continued their tradition of punking both the Jets and the Dolphins.
It takes just two three-ring-circus franchises within a division to boost a third team’s season, providing a launching pad toward a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the playoffs.
During their 18-year dynastic run in which they went to nine Super Bowls, winning six, the Patriots went 30-6 against the Dolphins and Jets in the campaigns in which they advanced to the title game. Moreover, the Pats were 14-4 against the Bills those nine seasons, further greasing their postseason paths. They have capitalized immensely on NFL teams playing division foes twice a season.
This season? The Patriots clinched the AFC East title Sunday, their first since 2019. Not coincidentally, they’re 3-0 against the slapstick Dolphins and Jets, and they finish the regular season Sunday at home against the Fins.
Fair? Hardly.
In fact, I say the NFL’s playoff system is the most unfair in the sporting world, and the Pats are the poster boys of that patently unjust structure.
Top conference teams not only get to sit during wild-card weekend but also get to play at home until the Super Bowl, which is typically at a neutral site?
A sub-.500 division winner has more cache (getting to host a wild-card game) than a second-place team in the same conference with a better record — sometimes much better?
Nuts.
Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe used that word well in World War II in response to an inquiry by the German high command, and I borrow it here.
Of course, an odd number of teams go to the NFL postseason, creating the current imbalance and red-carpet treatment for two lucky teams — a template requiring wholesale changes.
Are you listening, commissioner Roger Goodell? This summer, trash the divisions. Lose rivalries? So what. They’ve altered the dynamics of the game so much that that is a non-issue, archaic and trivial.
Shift to only two conferences. One through 16. Eight teams advance to the playoffs, in the format of 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc., reseeded after each round.
Voilà!
The next season’s schedule depends upon a team’s finish in the conference. It’s all slotted. Soon, they’ll have 18 regular-season games, so teams could play 10 games in their own conference and eight in the other one.
Simple. Straightforward. Far fairer than the current model.
Need further details or the scheduling formula, Goodell? Inquire within.
In the meantime, I can hear the arrogance machinery being oiled in the Northeast, driven — again — by domination of the Dolphins and Jets.
Good for the Pats. Those fans have endured a brutal Super Bowl drought, since the 2019 season.
How have they survived?
Best bet
DOLPHINS at PATRIOTS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
Line: Patriots by 10½.
Total: 45½.
Records (overall/ATS): Dolphins 7-9/8-8; Patriots 13-3/10-6.
Pick: Patriots 38, Dolphins 6.
Play: Patriots -10½.
How Miech’s plays fared
Last week Overall
Best bet 0-1 6-11
Top 3 3-0 29-21-1
Overall 8-8 117-131-5
7-point tease 11-5 180-71-2
Top plays
TITANS at JAGUARS
Time: Noon Sunday.
Line: Jaguars by 12½.
Total: 47½.
Records (overall/ATS): Titans 3-13/7-9; Jaguars 12-4/10-5-1.
Outlook: This was no contest Nov. 30 — a 25-3 thrashing by the Jags, who have won seven in a row and eight of their last nine. In his last five games, QB Trevor Lawrence has 12 TD passes and a single pick, plus four rushing TDs.
Pick: Jaguars 28, Titans 6.
Play: Jaguars -12½.
JETS at BILLS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
Line: Bills by 7.
Total: 38½.
Records (overall/ATS): Jets 3-13/8-8; Bills 11-5/7-9.
Outlook: On paper, this is the wipeout of the weekend. The Bills are underwater (minus-.010 points-per-play margin) in their last three games, but the Jets are operating at a minus-.412 level. That, folks, is what sank the Titanic.
Pick: Bills 33, Jets 10. Play: Bills -7.
LIONS at BEARS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday, Fox 32.
Line: Bears by 3.
Total: 50½.
Records (overall/ATS): Lions 8-8/7-9; Bears 11-5/10-5-1.
Outlook: Underwater in their last three games (minus-.141 PPP margin), the Lions aren’t about to finish with a bright spot. Does Ben Johnson take it easy on his former boss? No way.
Pick: Bears 27, Lions 7. Play: Bears -3.
Other plays
PANTHERS at BUCCANEERS
Time: 3:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC 7, ESPN.
Line: Buccaneers by 2½. Total: 43½.
Records (overall/ATS): Panthers 8-8/9-7; Buccaneers 7-9/5-10-1.
Outlook: The Bucs’ injuries caught up to them, as they’re 2-8 in their last 10. They’ve dropped four in a row, and in each they yielded more than 100 yards on the ground. RB Rico Dowdle gets his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
Pick: Panthers 28, Bucs 10.
Play: Panthers +2½.
SEAHAWKS at 49ERS
Time: 7 p.m. Saturday, ABC 7, ESPN.
Line: Seahawks by 1½. Total: 49½.
Records (overall/ATS): Seahawks 13-3/12-4; 49ers 12-4/11-5.
Outlook: Only the Seahawks and Eagles have plus figures in all six categories of the TeamRankings’ points-per-play margins. The Seahawks are 8-4 in their last 12 in the Bay Area and have a Week 1 loss to avenge.
Pick: Seahawks 28, 49ers 20.
Play: Seahawks -1½.
SAINTS at FALCONS
Time: Noon Sunday.
Line: Falcons by 3. Total: 43½.
Records (overall/ATS): Saints 6-10/8-8; Falcons 7-9/8-7-1.
Outlook: The Saints are 12-7 in Atlanta over the last 20 years. In guiding them to victories in their last four games, rookie QB Tyler Shough nearly single-handedly ruined my under-5½-wins futures ticket on the Saints.
Pick: Saints 21, Falcons 20.
Play: Saints +3.
COLTS at TEXANS
Time: Noon Sunday.
Line: Texans by 10. Total: 39½.
Records (overall/ATS): Colts 8-8/9-6-1; Texans 11-5/9-7.
Outlook: Colts rookie QB Riley Leonard gets his first NFL start against one of the all-time top defenses, which has allowed only two foes to reach at least 20 first downs. I pick the Texans to make the Super Bowl.
Pick: Texans 27, Colts 3.
Play: Texans -10.
BROWNS at BENGALS
Time: Noon Sunday.
Line: Bengals by 7½. Total: 44½.
Records (overall/ATS): Browns 4-12/7-9; Bengals 6-10/8-8.
Outlook: The Browns have dropped three in a row in Cincinnati and have given the ball away at least twice in each of their last five games. The Bengals have beaten their last two opponents 82-35.
Pick: Bengals 31, Browns 10.
Play: Bengals -7½.
COWBOYS at GIANTS
Time: Noon Sunday, Fox 32.
Line: Cowboys by 3½. Total: 51½.
Records (overall/ATS): Cowboys 7-8-1/8-8; Giants 3-13/8-7-1.
Outlook: The Boys have won their previous four games at MetLife and seven of their last eight. Plus, they won that 40-37 overtime thriller in Week 2 at Jerry World.
Pick: Cowboys 35, Giants 31.
Play: Cowboys -3½.
PACKERS at VIKINGS
Time: Noon Sunday, CBS 2.
Line: Vikings by 6½. Total: 36½.
Records (overall/ATS): Packers 9-6-1/6-9-1; Vikings 8-8/7-8-1.
Outlook: QB Max Brosmer throws for three net yards, yet the Vikes win their fourth in a row, 23-10 over the Lions? Goofball football. The dinged-up Pack have nothing to gain or lose here. Watch them rest every key player.
Pick: Vikings 27, Packers 6.
Play: Vikings -6½.
CARDINALS at RAMS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
Line: Rams by 7½. Total: 46½.
Records (overall/ATS): Cardinals 3-13/6-10; Rams 11-5/11-5.
Outlook: Rams QB Matthew Stafford blasted the Cardinals 45-17 four weeks ago in Glendale. The Cards have now dropped eight in a row.
Pick: Rams 21, Cardinals 17.
Play: Cardinals +7½.
CHIEFS at RAIDERS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
Line: Chiefs by 5½.
Total: 36½.
Records (overall/ATS): Chiefs 6-10/6-10; Raiders 2-14/5-10-1.
Outlook: My best summertime wager? Under 6½ wins for the Raiders, and I returned to the window a week later to triple down on that investment. It doesn’t matter who’s playing QB for the Chiefs — this is an ugly, one-sided affair.
Pick: Chiefs 20, Raiders 0.
Play: Chiefs -5½.
CHARGERS at BRONCOS
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday.
Line: Broncos by 12½. Total: 37½.
Records (overall/ATS): Chargers 11-5/8-7-1; Broncos 13-3/6-9-1.
Outlook: Thirteen wins for the Broncos. How many over a winning team? Three! The vagaries of a soft schedule are rife in the AFC. Chargers QB Justin Herbert isn’t playing, so make that four.
Pick: Broncos 21, Chargers 6.
Play: Broncos -12½.
COMMANDERS at EAGLES
Time: 3:25 p.m. Sunday, CBS 2.
Line: Eagles by 7. Total: 41½.
Records (overall/ATS): Commanders 4-12/5-11; Eagles 11-5/10-6.
Outlook: Covering three of their last five gives a remnant of hope to a poor squad like the Commanders, but this is a bridge too far. At home, they lost by 11 points to the Eagles two weeks ago.
Pick: Eagles 16, Commanders 3.
Play: Eagles -7.
RAVENS at STEELERS
Time: 7:20 p.m. Sunday, NBC 5.
Line: Ravens by 3½. Total: 40½.
Records (overall/ATS): Ravens 8-8/6-10; Steelers 9-7/8-8.
Outlook: Without suspended WR DK Metcalf, we saw the ineptness of the Steelers’ offense last week.
Pick: Ravens 23, Steelers 10.
Play: Ravens -3½.