Pats Pulpit
Even though there is plenty of room for improvement, the New England Patriots kept their win streak alive against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. Their 24-23 victory was their sixth in a row and improved their overall record on the year to 7-2 — tied with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos for best in the AFC.
And yet, they fell down a spot in the playoff picture from the second to the third seed. Why? Because Denver managed to defeat the Houston Texans 18-15 to draw even with New England and its 4-2 conference record. The difference in the Broncos’ favor at the moment is the strength of victory tiebreaker, with their .331 narrowly beating the Patriots’ .328.
The full AFC playoff picture after the early window of games on Sunday looks as follows:
On the bubble: 8. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3), 9. Houston Texans (3-5), 10. Baltimore Ravens (3-5)
*Not technically eliminated but let’s be real here: *11. Cincinnati Bengals (3-6), *12. Las Vegas Raiders (2-5), 13. Cleveland Browns (2-6), 14. Miami Dolphins (2-7), *15. New York Jets (1-7), 16. Tennessee Titans (1-8)
There is potential for more change depending on the outcome of Chiefs vs. Bills and Jaguars vs. Raiders in the late window on Sunday. Regardless of those games, however, the Patriots continue looking good in their quest for returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season.
