The Story Behind Those Patriots AFC Championship Tickets Is Actually Very Boring

But it’s not because the Patriots are getting cocky.

Follow SI Wrestling on Facebook

Follow

A photo of Patriots season tickets has been making its way around the internet on Thursday claiming the Pats are confident enough to already include two playoff games in the package. But it’s not what it seems. (When I first published this post I called the move “obnoxious,” which was dumb in hindsight.)

Kraft sending the AFC championship tickets with the season tickets is the cockiest/best thing I've seen @stoolpresidente @FeitsBarstool pic.twitter.com/4oq29IAS1P

— Connor Pratt (@PintSizePratt) August 3, 2017

According to a Patriots spokesman, fans have the opportunity to request “pay as you go” playoff tickets with their season ticket packages. If their team makes the playoffs, they get charged for the tickets; if not, they just have a fun bit of alternative history to go with their Patriots Super Bowl XLII Champs t-shirt. 

If Pats fans received these tickets, it’s because they asked to (like this Raiders fan).

In the interest of transparency, here’s my original stupid post about this:

The Patriots found a clever way to save on postage this season: just send season ticket holders their AFC championship game tickets already. 

New England sent out its ticket packages this year with 12 tickets: two preseason games, eight regular season and two playoff games.

Forget the Wild Card round, the Pats are planning on securing that first-round bye before hosting the divisional round and conference championship. 

As FTW points out, the Raiders did the very same thing this year, but it’s totally different coming from a team like Oakland. For the Raiders, it’s an optimistic gesture for team that has had a lot bad luck. For the Pats, it’s just obnoxious. (They’re totally going to make the AFC championship game, though.)