After two straight losses in brutal fashion, the Patriots somehow still control their own destiny to the postseason.
Yup, that’s right – despite lateraling the game to the Raiders last weekend and fumbling it to the Bengals on Christmas Eve, all New England has to do is win to get back to the AFC Playoffs for a second consecutive season.
But will they? Our exclusive wagering partners at BetOnline.ag don’t think it’s likely – at all. They give the Patriots just +550 chances to do so. Here are the odds:
Will the New England Patriots Make the Postseason?
No -900
Yes +550
What the oddsmakers are essentially saying is, there’s almost no chance that New England actually pulls off two straight wins to finish their season.
While normally I would agree with this sentiment, as they haven’t shown much ability to get past their horrific coaching job in 2022, the one thing they do do is fight. I wrote about this as one of my takeaways from their loss to the Bengals:
2. This team is pretty dang resilient.
Say what you want about this Patriots team, but they’ve got a lot of fight in them.
Down 22-0 at halftime, New England could have easily rolled over and let the Bengals win this one handily, but they didn’t. They kept their foot on the gas, used their top-tier NFL defense to their advantage, and made this one a game. They scored 18 second-half points, held Cincinnati to zero, and were (another) offensive gaffe away from a win.
They lost, I know. But the players didn’t quit. That’s something to hang your hat on.
Playing for each other is the best thing you can do in the NFL, and the Patriots are doing that right now.
On top of this, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is back in the league’s concussion protocol yet again after suffering what looked to be a head injury on Sunday, and the Bills already have the AFC East division title locked up – so it’s looking like New England will get to face off against Teddy Bridgewater and Case Keenum in consecutive weeks for a chance at the postseason.
The chips are falling the right way for the Patriots, but as Belichick would surely say – let’s just focus on beating the Dolphins for now.
Kickoff is at 1pm from Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium on New Year’s Eve. Keep it here with us at CLNSMedia.com for all the latest surrounding New England’s push towards the playoffs.
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