The Patriots find themselves at 6-6 as they enter Week 14. After last season’s wild-card exit, New England fans want another playoff win. Unfortunately, the Patriots have only had one playoff win over the previous four seasons, which is disappointing, to say the least.
Part of the recent struggles fall on the offense; the decision to continue rolling with Matt Patricia as the play caller is looking worse as the season progresses. If the Patriots want to turn it around, it has to start with the offense. This is critical as the team faces some solid defenses in upcoming games.
In Week 13, the Patriots’ playoff chances took a hit after a brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. However, they did get help from the rest of the league, with the Chargers, Jets, and Dolphins losing. Additionally, the Raiders helped out the Patriots with their 27-20 win over the Chargers, as Los Angeles is now at .500.
If the Patriots can defeat the Cardinals Monday Night and the Jets lose to the Bills, New England will overtake the Jets as the seventh seed in the playoffs.
The West Coast trip will be a critical time for the Patriots’ playoff hopes as they face two winnable opponents. The Cardinals are 4-8 and have the worst record of the Patriots’ remaining opponents. After Monday Night, the Patriots will stay on the West Coast and face the Las Vegas Raiders in a pivotal game. A Patriots win over the Raiders would improve both their record and conference records and provide a tiebreaker edge over the Raiders, who are only one game behind the Patriots. After their road trip, the Patriots will host back-to-back home games, with the Bengals and Dolphins coming to Foxborough. On Christmas Eve, New England will match up with Cincinnati and then play Miami the following week.
The Bills should have the top seed in the AFC as Week 18 rolls around, which is good news for the Patriots, as Buffalo may give its starters the game off.
For the Patriots to win games, Mac Jones’s performance will have to improve, the offensive line needs to be healthy, and protection for Jones has to be better. PFF had the Patriots’ offense line as the fifth-best arriving into 2022, but their unit now is sixth-worst. In addition, for the offense to succeed, Matt Patricia must mix up the play-calling.
As of now, here is the NFL Playoff Picture.
1. Buffalo Bills, 9-3 (leading AFC East)
2. Kansas City Chiefs, 9-3 (AFC West #1)
3. Baltimore Ravens, 8-4 (AFC North #1)
4. Tennessee Titans, 7-5 (AFC South #1)
5. Cincinnati Bengals, 8-4 (1st Wild Card)
6. Miami Dolphins, 8-4 (2nd Wild Card)
7. New York Jets, 7-5 (3rd Wild Card)
In the Hunt
8. New England Patriots, 6-6
9. Los Angeles Chargers, 6-6
10. Cleveland Browns, 5-7
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My name is Ben Belford-Peltzman and I am the creator and writer of The Patriots Beat. I am a 17-year kid who is an optimistic pessimist about the City of Champions. I started The Patriots Beat in August of 2022 and never expected to grow so much but here we are. Feel free to email Thepatriotsbeat@gmail.com with any inquires.
