The 2023 NFL season has been one to forget for the New England Patriots. They are currently sitting with a 2-10 record and are set up to have the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Believe it or not, there is still one crazy scenario where they can end up in the playoffs.
What has to happen? What are the New England Patriots’ biggest hurdles? Let’s take a look at it below.
New England Patriots Winning Out
The first thing that has to happen is the New England Patriots have to win out. They have five games remaining and cannot afford to lose one of them if they want to make the playoffs. This starts on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here is their remaining schedule:
- at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)
- vs. Kansas City Chiefs (8-4)
- at Denver Broncos (6-6)
- at Buffalo Bills (6-6)
- vs. New York Jets (4-8)
As you can see, it is certainly going to be a challenging schedule for New England. For starters, they are underdogs by nearly a touchdown against Pittsburgh. They will also likely be underdogs in the following three games.
Ultimately, the Patriots need to finish with a 7-10 record to have any chance at making the playoffs. However, that alone is not going to be enough. New England will need a lot of help to close out the season.
Teams Losing Out
Not only do the New England Patriots need to go undefeated for the rest of the season but a couple of teams need to go winless. These two teams are in the thick of the AFC playoff picture. These are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.
New England can control one aspect of this by beating Pittsburgh. However, the Steelers have to lose their next four games after that. Those four games are against the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore Ravens respectively.
As for the Texans, the Patriots do not play them at all during this final stretch. So, who do the Texans still have to play? Their next five games are against the New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans again, and the Indianapolis Colts respectively. Houston has to lose all five of these games for New England to have a chance.
Other Crazy Aspects
There are four other teams involved in this crazy scenario. While these four teams do not have to lose out, there are very specific things that have to happen involving these teams. The four teams are the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Buffalo Bills.
The Chargers and Broncos still have to play each other twice in these final five games. They have to split these meetings for the Patriots to have a chance. From there, Denver has to lose every other game. As for Los Angeles, they need to beat the Las Vegas Raiders and lose their other two games.
The Bengals still have one more meeting with the Steelers. For the Patriots to make the playoffs, they need to win that game. However, Cincinnati has to lose their other four games remaining.
Finally, we have the Bills. They have had a disappointing season so far at 6-6. New England plays Buffalo during this stretch and will have to win that game.
The Bills need to win their game in the week prior against the Chargers for the Patriots to have a chance. Then, they have to lose their other remaining games. Considering those are against the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Dolphins, this is certainly feasible.
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