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The New England Patriots are inching close to clinching another postseason berth for the eleventh year in a row, earning the right to defend their Super Bowl title in the playoffs.
That can happen as early as Sunday in Houston, though the writing is on the wall barring a monumental and historic collapse. New England’s scenario is simple: win and they’re in. They’ll need a little help as well from their Week 14 opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, as they host Oakland on Sunday.
If the Chiefs beat the Raiders and the Patriots beat the Texans, New England will clinch a postseason spot once again. Should the Raiders pull the upset, the Patriots’ playoff hopes would have to wait until they host the Chiefs next week. Wins by both the Steelers and Raiders on Sunday over Cleveland would mean New England’s playoff spot would not be fully guaranteed for another week.
Today’s @NFL Playoff scenarios:
49ers can clinch playoff spot with win AND Rams loss or tie
Patriots can clinch playoff spot with win AND Raiders loss OR win AND Steelers loss
As it stands now, the Patriots have a 76 percent chance of capturing the top seed in the AFC and a 95 percent chance of receiving a first-round bye, according to playoffstatus.com. With five games still to play, the Patriots must get the job done but are in touching distance of guaranteeing January football once again.
In the buildup to the Patriots’ Sunday night game against Houston, they’ll be scoreboard watching to see if the chance of clinching a spot in the 2019 playoffs is still alive. Pittsburgh’s win over Cleveland earlier Sunday means Oakland will have to lose to the Chiefs for things to be set in motion.
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The Top-Seed is Still Up for Grabs
With New England’s lone loss currently coming at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots would need to finish with a better record in order to lock up the top seed. With the head-to-head tiebreaker owned by Baltimore, the Ravens would get the top seed should the two teams finish with the same record this season.
Baltimore maintained their two-loss status with a victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, needing a last-second field goal to get the job done. The Patriots will need to keep pace on Sunday night against the Texans.
Aside from the Ravens, the Patriots need to be wary of Buffalo in the divisional race. The two AFC East foes already met once in September in Western New York, with the visiting Patriots coming away victorious in a 16-10 barnburner.
The teams will meet once more this season in Week 16, a rare Saturday afternoon game in Foxborough where the Patriots could potentially lock up their 11th division title in a row over Buffalo. Should the Bills win out, they will still need New England to lose another game in order to have any chance at taking the East division title.
As for the Texans and Chiefs, the teams would need the Patriots to lose at least four games, including their matchups against New England, in order to overtake the Patriots in the AFC playoff standings.
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