Believe it or not, the Patriots could hold a playoff spot as soon as this Sunday.
In fact, New England fans probably should expect it to happen.
Had the Bengals beaten the Browns on Monday night, the Patriots would've needed three things to happen in Week 9 to move into a playoff spot: beat the Colts and get losses from both the Jets (vs. Buffalo Bills) and Chargers (at Atlanta Falcons). That scenario already was at least somewhat realistic.
But Cincinnati stumbled Monday night, suffering an ugly 32-13 loss in Cleveland. The defeat dropped the Bengals to 4-4 and ninth in the AFC standings, one spot behind the 4-4 Patriots. Now, if New England protects home field against Indianapolis on Sunday, there's nothing that Cincy can do to pass the Patriots in the standings.
Additionally, if the Patriots beat Indy, they'll only need one of New York or Los Angeles to lose in order to move into the postseason picture.
Here are the updated AFC standings:
1. Buffalo Bills (6-1; AFC East leader)
2. Tennessee Titans (5-2; AFC South leader)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (5-3; AFC West leader)
4. Baltimore Ravens (5-3; AFC North leader)
5. New York Jets (5-3; first wild card)
6. Miami Dolphins (5-3; second wild card)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (4-3; third wild card)
8. New England Patriots (4-4)
9. Cincinnati Bengals (4-4)
10. Indianapolis Colts (3-4-1)
11. Cleveland Browns (3-5)
12. Denver Broncos (3-5)
13. Las Vegas Raiders (2-5)
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-6)
16. Houston Texans (1-6-1)
Given how bad Zach Wilson and the Jets looked on Sunday, you'd be crazy to pick the Jets over the Bills. In all likelihood, New York will suffer a second straight defeat and fall to 5-4.
And Patriots fans also should feel confident that New England will take care of business against the Colts, who are a disappointing 3-4-1 on the season. The Patriots currently are 5.5-point favorites over Indy, which will give sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger his second NFL start. Oh, and the Colts on Tuesday fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady -- so the Patriots definitely are getting them at the right time.
That said, similar things were said before New England hosted the Chicago Bears in Week 7, and we all know what happened then. The Patriots remain a middling team susceptible to upset losses.
Is it far too early to be talking about playoff scenarios? Yeah, definitely. But considering all the negative noise that has surrounded the Patriots since the start of training camp, it's worth noting that they're firmly in playoff contention with the season nearly halfway over.
