Todd Bowles, Jets not looking past Patriots

The only other two teams who are not yet eliminated in the AFC playoff race are the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars, both of whom still stand a shot at winning the AFC South but neither of whom could earn a wild card spot. And if the Jets were to win against Buffalo week 17, the Steelers could end up being only the second 11-5 team to miss out on the big dance. The Patriots have won eight of the last nine meetings, but the last five games have been decided by seven points or fewer. With a Patriots loss on Sunday, the Steelers would still be out of the playoff picture. We know that already, but he is good enough to lead this team deep into the playoffs.

With the way the Bengals and Steelers have clashed this season, who wouldn’t want to see a third matchup between the two AFC North rivals? Pittsburgh needs a win and Jets loss to secure its invitation.

Cimini added that it may be in the best interest of the Jets that the Chiefs overtake the Broncos (10-4) for the AFC West divisional title.

It didn’t matter that the Steelers and Broncos were playing, nor that a victory for Denver would put the Jets playoff destiny in their own hands.

This would leave the Broncos, Chiefs, Jets and Steelers with 11-5 records.

Pittsburgh’s offense likely has the rest of the AFC hoping that they’ll slip up in the final two weeks, as no one seems to have an answer for Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. But quarterback Tom Brady still is upright, and he is having another MVP-worthy season, with 35 TD passes and only six interceptions. I can’t control what Denver does. “[In the 15th week of the year], I think you’re on the treadmill going at 9.7 right now and it’s just not stopping”.

“I hope we are”. We’re in a little bit of a rhythm now. After all, watching those games, or giving attention to their outcome, would go directly against what the coach has been preaching all along: Control what you can control.

The Patriots, who have dealt with a plethora of injuries and illnesses, will need to weigh the pros and cons of resting players while still being competitive.

-COACHING: B-minus. The Jets came out flat and sloppy against a sub-standard opponent, but credit to head coach Todd Bowles for figuring out a way to reverse the trend at halftime. “We’re on our way just getting better each week”.

“We’ll just have to do the best that we can to balance all those things out”. ESPN’s Football Power Index give the Jets a 26 percent chance of making the playoffs. We’ll have to work our way through all that. “We’ve grown some”, Bowles said.

Among the key Patriots players on the shelf are receiver Julian Edelman and safety Devin McCourty.

Pittsburgh has games left at Baltimore and at Cleveland. He had no rooting interest.

“Not much different”, he said with a chuckle during a Monday conference call. “In the end, whoever we play at this time of year is going to be a good team and we’re going to have to play well”.

And after starting just once in 2014, Butler has started all 14 games this season while playing an important role in the team’s 11th-ranked pass defense. That probably is not going to happen.