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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The New England Patriots are on their Week 14 bye with an 11-2 record, which is the best in the AFC.<\/p>\n
With four games left to go in the season, the Patriots could go very far, perhaps all the way to the Super Bowl. Here’s a look at how some members of the New England Patriots on SI staff think the season will end up.<\/p>\n
I’ll be the crazy one. The Patriots are going to win the AFC. A year that most people thought would cap off at seven wins is now a year where parades are potentially on the table.<\/p>\n
I understand the weaker schedule, but after two years of four-win football, it’s almost poetic that a new regime can capitalize on last year\u2019s struggles. The Patriots will win the division, and ideally get two home playoff games en route to their first Super Bowl appearance since Tom Brady led them to Super Bowl LIII in 2018.<\/p>\n
Their luck will likely end in Santa Clara in early February, but hey, I’d chalk an appearance in the big game as a winning season.<\/p>\n
The Patriots likely only need two more wins in their final four games to claim the AFC East crown. It may take three or four wins to get the number one seed and that lucrative bye in the playoffs.<\/p>\n The AFC features a lot of unproven teams, including the Patriots. This should make for a very interesting playoff run where any team can win or lose on any given day. If the Patriots can claim the number one overall seed, I will go as far to say they will get to the AFC championship, but that’s as far as I can guarantee.<\/p>\n A Super Bowl run is very much in the cards, but it’s rare for a team as young as the Pats to get far in the playoffs, which will mean that doubts are lingering.<\/p>\n In addition to earning their tenth straight victory with a 33-15 drubbing of the New York Giants earlier this week, the Patriots became the first team in the NFL to reach 11 wins. Despite the Denver Broncos (10-2) victory over the Washington Commanders, the Pats\u2019 prime time win put them back atop the conference standings \u2014 putting pressure on their competition, while staking their claim as the sole owner of the top spot in the AFC.<\/p>\n New England may still face its toughest stretch of the season upon its return from the Week 14 bye. The Pats will host the Buffalo Bills in Week 15 with the AFC East likely on the line. They will follow-up what promises to be a tough divisional matchup with a game against Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n Still, the Pats can remain \u201cmasters of their domain\u201d if they continue to win. By staying true to their proactive approach to offense, and aggression on defense, the Patriots are capable of maintaining their spots atop both the division and the conference \u2014 thus re-opening the road to the Super Bowl which travels exclusively through Foxborough, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The New England Patriots are on their Week 14 bye with an 11-2 record, which is the best in the AFC. With four games left to go in the season, the Patriots coul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_4493,h_2527\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/patriots_country\/01kbqv4qwgttttykczc3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJeremy Brener<\/h2>\n
Mike D’Abate<\/h2>\n