Pats don't have much to play for except the 3 vs 4 seed, so they will probably only play their starters a half, similar to what they did week 17 last year vs. Miami when the Fish came back and won in NE.
Only Carson Palmer and Ben Rothlisberger have had big passing days against the Oakland defense this season. Most QB's have passed for about 100 yards against them. The Oakland secondary is very good.
Here's their W-L record. They lost 3 of their games by 4 points or less, the rest were by more than 4 points. The average number of points scored against them is 20.6. There offense has been shut out 3 times this year: Mon., September 11 vs CHARGERS 7:15 p.m. ESPN/CW L 0-27 Sun., September 17 @ Baltimore 10:00 a.m. CBS L 6-28 Sun., September 24 BYE WEEK Sun., October 1 vs BROWNS 1:15 p.m. CBS L 21-24 Sun., October 8 @ San Francisco 1:05 p.m. CBS L 20-34 Sun., October 15 @ Denver 5:15 p.m. NBC L 3-13 Sun., October 22 vs CARDINALS 1:15 p.m. FOX W 22-9 Sun., October 29 vs STEELERS 1:15 p.m. CBS W 20-13 Mon., November 6 @ Seattle 5:30 p.m. ESPN/CW L 0-16 Sun., November 12 vs BRONCOS 1:05 p.m. CBS L 13-17 Sun., November 19 @ Kansas City 10:00 a.m. CBS L 13-17 Sun., November 26 @ San Diego 1:05 p.m.* CBS L 14-21 Sun., December 3 vs TEXANS 1:05 p.m.* CBS L 14-23 Sun., December 10 @ Cincinnati 10:00 a.m.* CBS L 10-27 Sun., December 17 vs RAMS 1:15 p.m.* FOX L 0-20 Sat., December 23 vs CHIEFS 5:00 p.m. NFLN/CBS 5 L 9-20
How does that back up in any way? I'll agree that their offense is horrid but their secondary has played very well.
