Patriots have made playoffs for last 11 seasons; Team currently rank 10th in AFC and need to be in top seven; Last four games are at Rams (8-4), at Dolphins (8-4), vs Bills (9-3) and vs Jets (0-12); Watch Patriots at Rams live on Sky Sports at 1.20am on Thursday night/Friday morning
Friday 11 December 2020 00:24, UK
In the NFC, a 6-6 record would get you in the playoffs this season, based on the current postseason picture.
The Minnesota Vikings hold that final seventh seed in that conference. In fact, the 6-6 Arizona Cardinals are the next-best team on the outside looking in.
The super-strong AFC does not have the same low standards.
The Indianapolis Colts, at 8-4, currently hold the final Wild Card spot. A winning record of 7-5 (Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens) won't even get you in right now.
New England, at 6-6, are the 10th-ranked team in the conference, two games behind the Colts in seventh. They've certainly got a chance to make it, but they might need to run the table. Is that going to be possible?
"It has been ugly, but there's also something about it that has been impressive," Good Morning Football's Nate Burleson said of the Patriots this week. "They didn't have a quarterback in place right before the season - Cam [Newton] was the last quarterback to get signed to a roster and became a starter shortly thereafter.
"They still have found a way to be in the conversation in the month of December. Don't let these guys in the tournament."
The story of the offseason was their six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady's exit in March. He moved on to Tampa Bay, had a full offseason to learn his new offense, and has been surrounded by weapons of his choosing.
Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown... The Buccaneers are stacked, and it is no surprise they are looking likely playoff-bound with a 7-5 record in Brady's first year.
Cam Newton, meanwhile, has not had those same luxuries. He sat at home without a team until July after missing most of the 2019 season for the Carolina Panthers through injury before arriving at a franchise that had lost its greatest player of all time, seen multiple Covid-19 opt-outs (Dont'a Hightower, Patrick Chung, Marcus Cannon) and certainly didn't make any splash signings.
The Patriots can be forgiven for starting slow, and Newton should be given some leeway considering he's new to the team, has had a revolving backfield all season, and his top healthy receivers are Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers, and N'Keal Harry.
Bill Belichick's team fell into a 2-5 hole in the first half of the season, unfamiliar territory for a coach who has taken his squads to the postseason for 11 straight seasons, and 17 of the last 19.
But they 'got right' against the Jets in Week Nine, surprised the Ravens in Week 10, then after losing to the Texans, beat another postseason-bound team in the Cardinals in Week 12 and obliterated the Chargers 45-0 last week.
GMF's Peter Schrager said of Belichick: "If you look at the list of Coach of the Year candidates, it's [Brian] Flores, [Kevin] Stefanski, [Sean] Payton; Belichick isn't really in the conversation,.
"But, if you look at his season, he is doing really impressive things. If they make it to the playoffs, he might win it [Coach of the Year].
"I'm not going to count them out until they're out."
There's no doubt Belichick's Patriots are heating up as we approach playoff season, but will it be enough? Let's look at their four opponents to finish the season...
What should we make of the Rams? Statistically, they are one of the best teams in the entire league. They average 396.6 yards per game offensively, behind only Kansas City and Green Bay, but score five points fewer per game than those sides (25.1).
Defensively, the Rams allow the second-fewest yards per game (only 291.3), are the best team in the league against the pass (198.3), and give up the fifth-fewest points (20.3).
With Seattle's struggles, they find themselves at the top of the NFC West. This will be an extremely difficult test for the Pats, and they are five-point underdogs heading into it but in close, scrappy games, never bet against the Pats.
Like the Rams, the Dolphins are stout defensively, allowing just 17.7 points per game, the second-fewest in the league. When these two teams met in Week One, Newton put in a fine performance (155 passing yards, plus 75 rushing and two touchdowns) in a 21-11 Patriots victory.
Back then, however, Ryan Fitzpatrick was at the helm for Miami and he threw three interceptions in the contest. Now, rookie Tua Tagovailoa leads the way and Belichick has a certain way of making rookie QBs look like... well, rookies.
The Pats held first-year standout Justin Herbert to his second-lowest passing yards, worst passer rating, and zero touchdowns for the first time all year last week and will relish the chance to do the same to Tagovailoa.
This is arguably the most pivotal game for New England, if of course they don't drop the previous two games and end up already out of the running.
The Patriots currently have a 2-1 record within their division, and if they can win the remaining AFC East game, it will at the very least give them the edge in tie-breakers.
When these teams met in Week Eight, Newton's fumble with 30 seconds remaining cost the Pats a chance at the win, or at least a tie, in a 24-21 loss. This is both a revenge opportunity, and a must-win game.
The Jets likely blew their final chance for a win this season with Gregg Williams' disastrous play-calling against the Raiders.
They now face the Seahawks, Rams, Browns, and Patriots to finish the season, all teams fighting for better seeding. New England should win this one.
Outside of the Jets, the Patriots face one of the toughest schedules in the final quarter of the season, with three games against playoff-calibre teams.
Are there more stories to be told for Belichick's Patriots dynasty, or was it over the moment Tom Brady walked out the door?
Watch New England fight for the playoff spot when they face the Rams on Thursday night/Friday morning at 1.20am, live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event.
