Tom Brady and the New England Patriots ended the regular season where they started it.

Being chased by the rest of the NFL.

The Patriots finished the regular season as the No. 1 team in the final AP Pro32 poll on Tuesday http://www.chargersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-derwin-james-jersey , receiving 11 of 12 first-place votes for 381 points in balloting by media members who regularly cover the NFL.

The Patriots (13-3), tied for the best record in the NFL, will have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

”Can we skip straight to the AFC championship game? I can’t wait,” said Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.

”It could prove a better matchup than the Super Bowl.”

The Minnesota Vikings (13-3), who were tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, remained at No. 2 with 367 points. The Vikings, who received the remaining first-place vote, have the No. 2 seed in the NFC and have a chance to stay at home throughout the playoffs, including the Super Bowl which will be held at U.S. Bank Stadium on Feb. 4.

”What a remarkable job by coach Mike Zimmer, who wins the NFC North going away with backup Case Keenum and now takes aim at becoming the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium,” Newsday’s Bob Glauber said.

The Steelers (13-3) slipped a spot to No. 3 in the poll with 365 points and will open the playoffs at home on Jan. 14 in the divisional round.

”Need (Antonio) Brown for the playoffs Bills Authentic Jerseys ,” Fox Sports’ John Czarnecki said of the Steelers star wide receiver who left the loss to the Patriots on Dec. 17 with a calf injury.

The Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles switched places. The Rams moved to No. 4 and the Eagles (13-3) slipped to No. 5.

”The question hanging over the city of Philadelphia right now: Will Nick Foles be enough?” asked Jenny Vrentas of The Monday Morning Quarterback. ”The last two performances of the regular season were uninspiring, but the Eagles have two weeks to regroup and come up with a game plan to win at home without Carson Wentz.”

The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, who will meet Sunday afternoon in the Superdome in the final game of wild-card weekend, remained at No. 6 and 7 respectively.

”The Saints will be hard to beat in the Superdome with that running game,” said John Clayton of 710-ESPN Seattle.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons each moved up a spot to No. 8 and 9 respectively.

The Jacksonville Jaguars slipped two spots to No. 10 after losing to the Tennessee Titans, who jumped four spots to No. 11.

The Buffalo Bills, who ended the league’s longest streak of consecutive seasons without a postseason appearance when Andy Dalton and the Bengals stunned the Baltimore Ravens 31-27, gained two spots to finish tied with the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 12.

”After ending a 17-year playoff drought, the resourceful Bills travel to Jacksonville feeling giddy and carefree,” said Ira Kaufman of SB Nation Radio.

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Two teams that began heading in opposite directions at just about the time they saw each other last month hook up again when the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics open a two-game interleague series Tuesday night.

The Padres were within arm’s length of .500 at 34-40 Harold Landry Youth Jersey , having won nine of 15, when the A’s ventured into San Diego and used a ninth-inning, two-out, two-strike, game-tying home run from Stephen Piscotty off relief ace Brad Hand to trigger a two-game sweep, winning 4-2 and 12-4.

The Padres now head north well out of contention in the National League West, having lost 11 of 14.

The A’s, meanwhile, have won 12 of 15 to surge well above .500 at 46-39 and into contention in the American League wild-card race.

Oakland has made much of its recent run without standout third baseman Matt Chapman, who has taken time off to allow pain in his right hand to subside.

Two cortisone shots later, Chapman had a pain-free hitting session Sunday and was sent to Class A for an injury-rehab game Monday.

It’s possible he could be reinstated from the disabled list during this series.

“He hit a few off the back wall in center field Tremaine Edmunds Jersey Youth , so that tells me enough,” A’s manager Bob Melvin observed Sunday. “Getting him back in the lineup will be a nice little kick for us.”

The A’s need no such boost in their pitching. They have allowed two or fewer runs in four of their last five games.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt (1-3, 2.82 ERA) will look to extend that impressive run while at the same time taste his first career success in interleague play.

The 29-year-old began the A’s recent pitching showcase with six innings of two-hit, scoreless ball in a 3-0 win at Detroit last Wednesday.

He has never faced the Padres in his career, and has lost both interleague starts despite a 2.45 ERA.

One intriguing potential matchup in the series is A’s closer Blake Treinen against Padres slugger Eric Hosmer, a pairing that carried a bit of history into a game-ending showdown in the A’s earlier 4-2 win in San Diego.

Then a member of the Kansas City Royals, Hosmer bombed a two-run, go-ahead homer off Treinen in the eighth inning of their first career head-to-head last August.

Treinen then extracted a measure of revenge in the June 19 rematch in San Diego, closing out the 10-inning game by striking out Hosmer as he represented the potential tying run.

Bassitt will be opposed by left-hander Clayton Richard (7-7, 4.29), who had a four-game winning streak stopped in a 5-2 loss at Texas last Wednesday.

He retains a good interleague record (9-5 http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chad-thomas-jersey , 3.50) despite not having beaten an American League opponent since 2015.

You have to go back three years before that to find his last appearance against the A’s in Oakland, but it was a memorable one. He shut out a playoff-bound A’s team for 7 2/3 innings in 2012, allowing five hits in a 2-1 win.

He has faced the A’s three times in his career, twice as a starter, and gone 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

One A’s hitter that Richard will have to deal with is the aforementioned Piscotty, who played last season for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Piscotty has dominated the head-to-heads, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a flyout to deep center field in the only non-hit of the matchup.

A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy, another former National Leaguer, also has a successful history against Richard, going 7-for-18 (.389) with two doubles and a homer.

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