Alive and Kicking: Patriots Still Own Path to Playoffs?

Despite consecutive heartbreaking losses and a 7-8 record, New England can make the postseason by winning its final two games.

The lethargic offense. Matt Patricia's lampooned play-calling. The quarterback controversy. The bizarre, bonehead loss in Las Vegas. The gut-wrenching fumble that short-circuited last weekend's Christmas comeback.

The stunning fact that the next time the New England Patriots play a game it will be 2023 and Mac Jones has thrown only one more touchdown (9) than interception (8).

Despite all those hiccups, confounding laterals and demoralizing fumbles, the most amazing fact about the Pats' 2022 season is that - entering Week 17 - they still control their fate for the NFL playoffs. At 7-8 and having lost four of their last five including last week's 22-18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the path to the postseason remains unfathomable simple.

Not easy. But simple.

Win, and they're in. If the Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins Sunday at Gillette Stadium and the Bills in Buffalo in Week 18 they will earn an AFC Wild Card berth. As shocking as the last-minute losses to the Raiders and Bengals were, the fact that the Pats are still alive might be the most unpredictable aspect of a crazy season.

On the other hand, if the Pats lose to Miami Sunday they will be eliminated.

"As a team, we've just got to come back and be consistent for the rest of the games we play and the rest of the time we're here," summed up Matthew Judon following the loss to Cincinnati. "But also as a team, man we are just a band of brothers and we stand behind each other. Like I said, we expect each other to play better every game."

Thanks to the New York Jets' home loss last week and the Dolphins' collapse to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day, New England is still in line for a Wild Card.

Get to 9-8, and the Pats will be in as either the AFC's No. 7 or even No. 6 seed.

Of course, they are 0-2 against their upcoming opponents this season. Miami beat them, 20-7, in Week 1 and the Bills have dominated the series since Tom Brady left, including a 24-10 victory in Foxboro a month ago. On the bright side, the reeling Dolphins have lose four consecutive games and in the regular-season finale the Bills could have the No. 1 seed in the playoffs locked up and, therefore, rest some of their front-line starters.

Simple. But not easy.

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