Could the road to Minneapolis in the AFC go through Oakland instead of Foxboro?

[coltkingABC]

All year, sports pundits and fans say that in 2017 the road to the Minneapolis Super Bowl in the AFC goes through Foxboro and the New England Patriots as has been for three straight years. I don't think so this year. I think the Raiders look like the AFC team to beat; the Patriots' defense did not look good against the Chiefs. 

[RockThatBlue]

It could. I think Oakland is going to have a great year.

[PuntersArePeopleToo]

1 hour ago, coltkingABC said:

All year, sports pundits and fans say that in 2017 the road to the Minneapolis Super Bowl in the AFC goes through Foxboro and the New England Patriots as has been for three straight years. I don't think so this year. I think the Raiders look like the AFC team to beat; the Patriots' defense did not look good against the Chiefs. 

Thank me for that I drafted them in fantasy so they had to be bad 

[chad72]

They either crash and burn when they play the Chiefs or go to the SB unless they run into an AFC West team, it seems like. 

 

2002 - miss the playoffs

 

2005 - fumble away their game vs Broncos in divisional round (another AFC West foe they hate)

 

2008 - Brady out for the season vs Chiefs game 1, miss the playoffs

 

2011 - Brady goes to the SB

 

2014 - Brady wins the SB

 

2017 - ????

 

Belichick and his coaches will make adjustments, so don't count them out. Plus, the AFC West is too strong as a division that the Raiders will have 3-4 losses by the time the playoffs come around, IMO. AFC East on the other hand, well, you know how it is  and the Pats will definitely have 12 wins with their game vs Oakland deciding HFA, IMO.

 

I feel this year would be a case of Packers vs Cowboys in the NFC.

 

 

[Finball]

Oakland still doesn't have good defense, especially LBs are a big issue. They looked better than I expected in game 1 but they are still my bold prediction pick to miss the playoffs.

[Qwiz]

Nah. The Patriots are the big kahunas until proven otherwise. Oakland is going to definitely make some noise this year though. 

[BloodyChamp]

The Pats play the Saints this week. If you like Slot WRs, TEs and passes that go slower than this forum's loading time on an old phone then this 1pm local game is your SB!

[Synthetic]

 

um not yet....the Raiders had one of the worst defenses in the league last year and were winning close games. In many ways, they were like the Saints last year, but with a lot more luck. 

 

This is only week 1. Let's see how they look after 5 games, and then we know if they're for real, or another year where it's simply a great QB carrying a team with no defense and getting lucky along the way. 

[RockThatBlue]

They looked pretty solid again today.

[JimJaime]

1 hour ago, RockThatBlue said:

They looked pretty solid again today.

They faced the Jets, I'm pretty sure a college team could beat the Jets. 

[IndyScribe]

Nope. The AFC West is the best team in the AFC. The winner of that division will come down to the Chiefs or the Raiders. I think it'll end up being the Chiefs. The Raiders have a bad D and it doesn't look like it's improved from last year. 

[Myles]

The AFC West is stacked.   Oakland has to play KC, Denver and SD twice.   The Pats get the Bills, Dolphins and Jets twice.   I don't think Oakland can overcome that.   They may not win their division.   KC and Denver are tough too.   

[King Colt]

I'm pulling to Andy Reid. He deserves that big, ugly trophy. I was half listening to the truck radio today and some player on the Texans was talking about Belichick and it's mazing how much respect and admiration his players and former players have for him.