Pats Pulpit
If there was a Coach Speak Hall of Fame, the phrase “one game at a time” would be a first-ballot selection. Luckily for us, neither sportswriters nor fans need to adhere to that slogan; we are at liberty to look ahead as far as we want.
In this particular case, we’re looking ahead to the rest of the regular season and the race for the playoff spots in the AFC. Entering Week 15, 11 teams are left standing with at least somewhat realistic chances of making it into the tournament when all is said and done, including the 11-2 New England Patriots.
While the Patriots are not yet officially qualified for the postseason, they can punch their ticket as early as this week. Even if they fail to do so, they are virtually guaranteed to end up as one of the top seven teams in the conference and therefore the playoffs.
Which seed they will end up with, however, remains to be seen. According to The Athletic’s playoff predictions, they remain the frontrunner to end up as the top seed (49%). A look at New England’s schedule, however, shows that getting there will be anything but easy — starting with a contest against the 9-4 Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Over the last month of the regular season, the Patriots will go up against three teams still competing for playoff positioning (although one of those, Miami, is close to getting eliminated). For a team that has played the easiest schedule in the NFL over its first 13 games, that will be a bit of a change: whereas their opponents so far this season have a win percentage of .349, their next four are currently a combined 24-28 (.462).
Compared to the rest of the AFC contenders, that is still a pretty manageable schedule. That becomes particularly clear when comparing to the Patriots’ top contenders for the No. 1 seed, the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos’ four remaining opponents feature three teams with a winning record plus the three-time reigning conference champions. Their remaining strength of schedule stands at .635, making it one of the hardest remaining slates in the league.
That honor, meanwhile, belongs to a Colts team in free fall. Not only did they lose three in a row, they also will be without their starting quarterback the rest of the way. Add a four-game stretch featuring four current playoff teams with a combined win percentage of .692 and you get a recipe for disaster in Indianapolis.
Near the other end of the spectrum are the Bills, who are two games behind the Patriots heading into their second-matchup of the season. Besides New England, Buffalo is going up against two of the worst teams in football as well as a Philadelphia Eagles squad that has now lost three in a row. The combined record of .481 might therefore be a bit deceiving.
At the end of the day, the Patriots will continue focusing on themselves and...
