As he watched the opening round of the 2022 NFL playoffs, Scott Zolak couldn't help but think about the Patriots' missed opportunity.
New England let a postseason berth slip through its fingers when it suffered a Week 18 loss in Buffalo. The final AFC playoff spot ended up going to the Dolphins, who held their own and then some in Sunday's wild-card loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium. Miami, like almost every other underdog that played this past weekend, was awfully competitive and nearly pulled off an upset.
These close games made Zolak all the more frustrated about the Patriots narrowly missing out on the playoffs.
"Well. After watching some of this dog (expletive) the last 2 days. You should be more than pissed off as a @Patriots fan. We could have played with any of them in a (expletive) year (Even at 8-9)," Zolak tweeted before the Baltimore Ravens' nail-biting road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Zolak can make a reasonable argument. Had the Patriots beaten the Bills in Week 18, they would have met the Bengals at Paycor Stadium in the wild-card round. New England was very close to beating Cincinnati in Week 16 and its rushing attack and stout defense could have given the reigning AFC champs fits in Round 2, similar to the problems the Tyler Huntley-led Ravens gave the Bengals on Sunday.
Would the Patriots have staged a Super Bowl LVII run had they punched a ticket to the dance? Probably not. But it's not an insane stretch to say they wouldn't have been one-and-done.
