ROOT CANAL: Patriots must grit teeth, cheer for Jets if they want to win division
FOXBOROUGH - National Football League playoff scenarios create some unusual allies, but no alliance is more awkward and unexpected than the Patriots and their fans having to root for their most reviled rival, the New York Jets.
The Patriots' road to a sixth straight division title goes indirectly through the Meadowlands, where the Jets host the Miami Dolphins Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The Patriots (10-5) close the season at Buffalo (1 p.m.) and need to win and get to 11-5 to have any type of playoff shot. If the 9-6 Jets, who need to win to keep their fading playoff hopes alive, beat the 10-5 Dolphins, and the Patriots shuffle out of Buffalo with a win then the Patriots are division champions.
If the Dolphins beat the Jets, then the only way the Patriots can get in is via the second wild-card spot - Indianapolis already has clinched one of the berths - and that would require Baltimore to lose at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jets are really the Patriots' best postseason hope because Jacksonville, which gave Indianapolis a game last Thursday, has nothing to play for as it finishes a disappointing season on the road.
So, the Patriots will have to take a break from the Border War and do the unimaginable - cheer for Eric Mangini and the Jets. Suddenly the Patriots and Jets are football frenemies. In this season of the unforeseen, even the Patriots couldn't have imagined that the latest plot twist has them having to pull for the Jets.
"No, never," said tight end Benjamin Watson with a hearty laugh inside the Reebok Store in Foxborough, where he was signing autographs. "Of all teams, right? We can control what we can control. If we'd have done better earlier we might not have been in this position, but we are where we are, and the only thing we can do now is try to win our last game. We win our last game and then see where the chips fall. If they're favorable, great. If not, we did the best we could with what we had."
Perhaps looking to avoid any conspiracy theories involving two teams who struggle to contain their contempt for each other and uphold the competitive integrity of the league, yesterday the NFL moved the time of the Jets-Dolphins game to 4:15 p.m. and did the same with the Ravens-Jaguars game, an unusual occurrence in that both games are on CBS, which carries the AFC, and both are being played on the East Coast.
By doing so, the league avoided a possible scenario in which Mangini and the Jets, knowing that the Patriots and Baltimore already have won, eliminating New York from the playoffs, spite the Patriots by not going all out against the Dolphins and thus knocking an 11-5 New England team out of the playoffs. With wins, both Miami and the Ravens would have 11-5 records, but they would have better conference records (8-4) than the Patriots, who can finish no better than 7-5 in the AFC.
Now, when the Jets kick off at 4:15, they know a win won't be just for the Patriots' sake. They're playing for themselves because if the Jets win and the Ravens lose, then New York makes the playoffs.
The NFL would rather air the "Spygate" tapes it confiscated from the Patriots on the NFL Network than admit such a scenario even could take place, never mind having to alter the schedule to avoid it.
"There are many factors that go into scheduling decisions, including this weekend's games," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "We make decisions that create the best overall situation for the NFL. We're not going to get into details on each game, and it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so. The schedule worked out the way it worked out. We made a decision that we think presents the best and most attractive television arrangement for this weekend's games."
When pressed about maintaining competitive integrity in the Jets-Dolphins game, Aiello channeled Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
"The schedule is what it is, and we think it's a very attractive Week 17 schedule with a lot of games with playoff implications," Aiello said.
The Jets have already done the Patriots a big favor by losing, 13-3, to the Seahawks Sunday. That opened the door for the Patriots to even have a shot at the division title.
While the Patriots have picked the perfect time to get hot, winning three straight games in December and four of their last five, New York has folded like a lawn chair, losing three of four to drop from 8-3 to 9-6. The one win required a boneheaded Buffalo fumble in the fourth quarter.
Belichick doesn't like to dabble in playoff scenarios to begin with, so he wasn't about to touch anything regarding help from the Jets, although he did reference the Jets' loss to Seattle, saying he was happy for outgoing Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
"Our major focus is just to get ready to play in Buffalo," said Belichick. "Again, based on what Buffalo did [Sunday] on the road in Denver, I think that right there tells you how they're going to play. They are a good football team. We have a lot of respect for them.
"We are always happy to see teams in our division lose. I was really happy for Mike Holmgren. Mike's had a tremendous career. He is one of the real greats in our profession. I have a lot of respect for Mike, so I was happy that it worked out for him in his last home game.
"I think, rather than being a fan here and a cheerleader, the best thing we can do is go out there and play good football on Sunday in Buffalo. Without that, nothing else will matter."
Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.
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