Going into week 17, there has been some conversation about who can make the playoffs, how, and how the seeding will work out. I started writing a post about playoff scenarios; foolishly, I planned on going through each one and determining the seeding of each team. The top two seeds are locked; as for the others, I got this far before I realized the extent of the undertaking:

If the Patriots win:

The Patriots will have locked up the 3rd seed. (They win out over the Bengals, even if Cincinnati wins against the Jets, based on strength of schedule.)

Cincinnati wins (NY loses), Baltimore wins, Denver wins, Pittsburgh wins.

               New England (3) vs Pittsburgh (6), Cincinnati (4) vs Baltimore (5)

Cincinnati wins, Baltimore loses, Denver wins, Pittsburgh wins.

               New England (3) vs Denver (6), Cincinnati (4) vs Pittsburgh (5)

Cincinnati wins, Baltimore loses, Denver loses, Pittsburgh wins.

               New England (3) vs Jacksonville (6), Cincinnati (4) vs Pittsburgh (5)

Wait, Jacksonville? That's right. The Jaguars have an outside shot of making the playoffs at 8-8. In these scenarios, I was assuming that Jacksonville would win; I didn't include them in the bolded teams because I didn't think they could even make the playoffs. In fact, if the Jets, Texans, Ravens, Broncos, and Steelers all lose, the Jaguars will actually be the 5th seed, with the Broncos taking the 6th seed--that's right, two 8-8 teams both making the playoffs. Miami also isn't statistically eliminated. With losses from Houston, New York, Baltimore, and Denver, and a win over Pittsburgh, the Dolphins would squeak by with the 6th seed. It's just too hard to explain every single scenario and what it would mean for seeding. So I stopped trying. My solution after the jump.

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Let me preface this by saying that Brady has not been a bad quarterback this season, by any standards. Constantly assailed by the media for every errant pass, every interception, he's managed to put up a QB rating of 93.7 (10th in football) and throw for almost 4,000 yards (5th) to this point. He's only appeared mediocre compared to 2007, and if you're still living that pipe dream, I can't help you.

That said, at times this season, Brady has appeared lost, and in the last game against the Bills, a few of his poorer passes might have have been interceptions with a little less luck. Sometimes, he has leaned too heavily on Welker and Moss, and has tried to force the ball into double coverage, or worse. (Considering the lack of a legitimate 3rd receiver, Brady's success thus far is actually pretty remarkable.)

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