New England Patriots: 'Play Football’ vs. Tank For Draft?

Several prominent New England Patriots had blunt, firm words for anyone demanding that they throw their final four games.

Welcome to New England Patriots football, where everything's made up and the points don't matter. That's right, the points are like ... well, the points on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" 

New England football takes on the rare guise of irrelevance over the next four weeks. Despite a surprise 21-18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday night, New England (3-10) is the only team in the AFC that won't be playing for a playoff seed in the final stages of the regular season.

There will be few, if any, broken hearts among Patriots supporters if their beloved Flying Elvises indeed lose their final four games. If they do, they'll post 14 losses for the first time since 1992 but they'll pick no worse than third in next spring's draft. As it stands, the Patriots are stationed to pick second behind Chicago (which owns Carolina's pick).

Bailey Zappe (4) and Ezekiel Elliott (15) both have something to play for over the Patriots' final hours / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

But don't expect the Patriots to tank for the Tar Heel (Drake Maye), collapse for Caleb (Williams), or huck it for the Heisman winner (Jayden Daniels). As New England prepares for a dangerous challenge against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs (1 p.m. ET, Fox), defensive lineman Christian Barmore made it clear that he and his fellow Patriots and worried about the scoreboard rather than the draft board.

"We ain't here to give up games," Barmore firmly declared to open the week, per Christopher Price of the Boston Globe. "We're here to play football."

Though they're eliminated from postseason consideration, plenty of Patriots still have something to play for. New England has 21 free agents on its 2024 ledger. Some will be looking to stick around for the Patriots' ongoing rebuild ... whether that's set to be overseen by Bill Belichick or an unknown party ... while others will look to prove they're destined to play in the fall rather than the spring. 

Ironically enough, the Patriots will still play a role in forming the AFC playoff bracket: Kansas City is not only looking to recover from an unexpected loss to the Buffalo Bills but to get back into the race for the top AFC seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. 

After the Chiefs' visit, they'll face the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve before wrapping up their yearly pair with the Bills on the last day of the year. Both Denver and Buffalo are caught up in the six-team logjam for the final two AFC Wild Card spots. Pittsburgh's Thursday loss to New England put them at the top of that bottleneck and they currently round out the playoff picture with Indianapolis entering Week 15 action.

Playing like their best against the NFL's elite remains a point of pride for the Patriots as they embark on their first lengthy stretch of meaningless football in decades.

"For us, as competitors, we want to go out and perform well regardless of the circumstances," tenured Patriot and specialist Matthew Slater said, per Matt Geagan of WBZ-TV. "We want to have success. (Thursday's win) gives us some confidence and hopefully a little bit of a spark, because we're going to need every spark we can get playing against the Chiefs."

The Inside Scoop on DT Christian Barmore

“I know the fans, they’re looking for a higher draft pick. But for us, this game, this game, it means so much to us. This is our livelihood. This is our identity," running back Ezekiel Elliott, one of the free agents-to-be, said, per Steve Buckley of The Athletic. “When we go out there, we’re all grown men. It wouldn’t feel right for any of us to lay down and just roll over for a draft pick for next year.”