Despite an uneven offensive season, the Patriots odds of winning the Super Bowl at 12-3 are still very good and this weekend’s battle against the Miami Dolphins will determine how difficult their road in the playoffs will be.
Beat the four-win Dolphins and the Patriots will get a week off and await the highest remaining seed on Divisional Weekend. But a loss and a Chiefs win would put the Patriots in action next weekend in the Wild Card round. That’s a huge difference, especially for a team that is as banged up as the Patriots are.
Most likely the Patriots should beat Miami and then expect to see a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs, a team the Patriots lost to in New England just a few weeks ago. Despite their record this year, the Patriots have struggled to beat the iron of the AFC, losing to Baltimore and Houston along with Kansas City.
Could the Patriots get revenge on those teams in the playoffs? New England’s second-half performance against the Chiefs is a reason for hope the Patriots could knock off Patrick Mahomes. Despite Kansas City’s recent success, the Patriots have still beaten them in two playoff games including last year’s overtime thriller.
But the Patriots will have to travel back to Baltimore if both teams advance and beating the Ravens at home is a challenge that might even surpass last year’s AFC Championship, where the Patriots went into Kansas City and won their third AFC Championship on the road and first since the 2004 season.
The Patriots aren’t the slam dunk they usually have been in the past, but they’re still good enough to make some noise in the playoffs. They’ll be a tough out for whoever they play but getting the playoff bye this weekend is of utmost importance.
