FOXBOROUGH \u2013 Of tomato cans, playoff juju, and something\ncalled the Patriot Way. It\u2019s the most\nwonderful time of the year, Patriot style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why various columnists near and far write all\nthese articles telling you not to worry about the state of your flawed 2018\nPatriots. History is very clear on how\nthings work for your favorite team, and it\u2019s happening again. From the hideous road losses during the year\nto the expected departure of Josh Gordon, things are still just fine along\nRoute 1 in southeast Massachusetts. And\njust in time for Santa\u2019s annual visit, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Patriots finally righted their ship on Sunday at\nGillette Stadium, preventing the first three-game losing streak since 2002 with\na very unremarkable 24-12 win over the eminently beatable Buffalo Bills. This layup game was naturally made difficult\nthanks to three Patriot turnovers, but in the end the defense suffocated rookie\nquarterback Josh Allen and all his offensive weapons and secured the tenth\nstraight AFC East title for the Patriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tenth straight division title is an NFL record. Only the Atlanta Braves won more division\ntitles in a row (14) in all of pro sports. \nSay what you will about the level of competition over the years, but it\nis still a fine accomplishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once this game ended, that\u2019s when the fun began\nelsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, the fun began Saturday night at the StubHub\nCenter in Carson, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Los Angeles Chargers, playing in a temporary home at\nthe crib of the LA Galaxy, at a stadium that is probably smaller than half of\nthe high school football fields in Texas, were beaten by the suddenly formidable\nBaltimore Ravens, 22-10. It dropped the\nChargers to 11-4. Combined with Pittsburgh\nlosing at New Orleans on Sunday, it now puts the Ravens in charge of the AFC North. But we don\u2019t care about the Ravens just\nyet. It\u2019s the Chargers we care about. More on them later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About ten minutes after the Patriot game ended, the\nHouston Texans lost a tough game to the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-30 on a walkoff\nfield goal. The Houston loss enabled the\nPatriots to flip with the Texans and regain the number two playoff seed. A win next week at home against the also\neminently beatable Jets in the regular season finale clinches a first round bye\nfor the Patriots, who still haven\u2019t played in the Wild Card round since 2009. That should not be too difficult barring some\nhorrifically unexpected circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then later into the evening, Kansas City failed to clinch\nthe one seed by losing at Seattle, 38-31. \nThe Chiefs also fell to 11-4. \nThat\u2019s three games that all broke the Patriots\u2019 way in two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the bottom line is this: despite all that has happened to your Patriots\nthis year, the Patriots are still in play for the top playoff seed going into\nthe final weekend of play in the NFL. It\nis unlikely, but still possible. The Patriots\nneed to win against the Jets, but then need both the Chargers and Kansas City\nto also lose their finales. None of the\nthree teams will be expected to lose these games. You might have to invoke the \u201con any given\nSunday\u201d rule, but the Patriots are probably still looking at their cherished\nbye week in two weeks. The only difference\nis that they will get the three seed instead of four seed, that is if the three\nand four seeds win at home in the Wild Card weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next Sunday, the Chiefs will finish at home against the\n3-11 Raiders (who play Monday night) against the Broncos. The long time rivalry between the two teams\nwill entice the Raiders to play hard early, but if the Chiefs get a big lead,\nthe Raiders will lapse into \u201cget on the bus\u201d mode and get on with the business\nof where they will play their home games next year. A Chief win clinches home field for them as\nwell as the AFC West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also next Sunday, the Chargers finish at Denver. The Mile High City has been a tough venue for\nroad teams to win in for opponents, and the Chargers are no exception. The Broncos are 6-1 against the Bolts at\nDenver in the last seven meetings (including a postseason win in 2013). This game is more losable for the Chargers\nthan the Chiefs\/Raiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Patriots need both 11-4 teams to lose. The Patriots win a head-to-head tie with\nKansas City, but also win a three-way tie with Kansas City and the Chargers. So if all three teams finish 11-5, the Patriots\nget the one seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the playoffs started right now, the seeds would be, in\norder, Kansas City, New England, Houston, Baltimore, LA Chargers and\nIndianapolis. Let\u2019s say that Houston and\nBaltimore win at home against rematch opponents. Houston would then travel to New England and\nBaltimore would go to Kansas City. If\nBaltimore can go into Kansas City and upset the Chiefs who have a lousy home\nplayoff record over the years (not to mention the coaching brain cramps Andy\nReid is susceptible to in the postseason), and if New England continues their\ndomination over Houston at home in the playoffs, you then have a New\nEngland-Baltimore AFC title game, the third in this decade, all of them at\nFoxborough. The Patriots would still get\ntheir two home games to the Super Bowl, but they would probably get the one\nteam nobody wants to face in January in the Ravens, with Lamar Jackson and\ntheir number one defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the Patriots could still get the AFC Championship\nGame at home even if they settle for the two seed. The Chiefs should wrap up the top seed next\nweek. The Bolts may lose at Denver. The Patriots should take care of the Jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final analysis, get ready for another fun January. What usually happens in January may happen\nagain. Call it playoff juju, or whatever\nyou want. It\u2019s all there for the Patriots. Things breaking their way has already begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tom Brady throws two picks, the Patriot ground game looks\nlike 1976, and nobody on the Bills gashed the Patriot defense. And the Patriots are still in good position\nto return to the Super Bowl for a third straight season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you encapsulate this? A Holly Jolly Patriot Christmas. We Three Kings (Brady, Belichick, Kraft) of\nFoxborough Are. Good King Belichick\nlooked out on the feast of Buffalo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Happy holidays, everyone, and your team is just fine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Call it playoff juju, or whatever you want. It\u2019s all there for the Patriots. Things breaking their way has already begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":21027,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1826],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-patriots-regular-season"],"yoast_head":"\n