Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots squandered their chance at an early AFC East title last Sunday, allowing the Buffalo Bills to turn a 24-7 halftime deficit into a 35-31 victory. As a result, there is only one game between the two division rivals with three weeks left in the season.
This means that the Patriots will not be able to clinch the AFC East this week even if they beat the Baltimore Ravens and the Bills come up empty against the Cleveland Browns. That said, there is a consolation prize of sorts available in Week 16: a win over the Ravens would ensure that New England punches its ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
That is not the most straight-forward but not the only clinching scenario this week, however.
Even if the Patriots fail to leave Baltimore with a victory on Sunday, there is a chance for them to enter the playoffs this week. In order to do so, they would hope for either Indianapolis or Houston not to win their Week 16 games: the Texans are hosting the Raiders, while the Colts are traveling to San Francisco on Monday night.
Considering the kickoff time of Texans-Raiders, the Patriots could already be playoff-bound by the time they take on the Ravens. Of course, their eyes are on a bigger prize, and winning on Sunday would put them back on track toward achieving that goal.
Kickoff between the Patriots and Ravens at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium has been flexed to 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dec. 21.
