If the New England Patriots can snap a picture of the skids they lost in Monday’s two games in Arizona, they’ll be back in the AFC playoff pictures.
The New York Jets lost 20-12 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, dropping their winning percentage to 7-6 for the season. The 6-6 Patriots have his 1-1 tiebreaker with the Jets, so a win over the Cardinals on “Monday Night Football” would leapfrog New York in the standings, giving him the third and final spot in the AFC Wild. card can regain his spot.
The win also put New England back in front of the Los Angeles Chargers, who beat the Miami Dolphins 23-17 on Sunday night and improved to 7-6. The losing Dolphins lead the AFC East standings by just one game over the Jets and 1 1/2 games over the Patriots.
Below is the latest information on the AFC playoff races starting Monday. Seven teams from each conference will qualify, with the two #1 seeds earning First Round Byes.
1. Buffalo Bills (10-3, 1st in AFC East)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (10-3, 1st in the AFC West)
3. Baltimore Ravens (9-4, leading AFC North)
4. Tennessee Titans (7-6, first in AFC South)
5. Cincinnati Bengals (9-4; first wild card)
6. Miami Dolphins (8-5; 2nd wild card)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (7-6; 3rd wild card)
8. New York Jets (7-6)
9. New England Patriots (6-6)
After visiting the Cardinals, the Patriots will practice for a week in Arizona ahead of their road match against the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday. With tough games in store for the Bengals (home), Dolphins (home) and Bills (road) in the final three weeks of the regular season, they can do nothing but sweep the West. Destroy New England’s Hopes Qualify for the playoffs.
Following Sunday night’s results, analytics site FiveThirtyEight said the Patriots, who are on a losing streak to the Minnesota Vikings and Bills, 25% chance of making the playoffsA win over Arizona would raise those odds to 39% with four weeks remaining, and a loss would drop them to 12%.
