New England Patriots: Week 8 could decide direction of the franchise

The future of the New England Patriots in 2020 and beyond is in focus for Week 8.

Nearing the midway point of the 2020 NFL season, the New England Patriots could have their fate decided with a big game against a divisional opponent in Week 8. New England will hit the road to face off against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, an important contest for multiple reasons.

Although the game will be the first of a handful remaining for the Patriots against AFC East opponents, it is an incredibly important matchup for New England moving forward the rest of this season and could decide the direction of the franchise moving forward.

Going into the game against the Bills in Buffalo, the Patriots hold a record of 2-4 and are quickly falling behind the rest of the pack in the division and AFC standings to this point in the year. Specifically when it comes to the division, the Bills (5-2 overall) appear to be the frontrunner to win the AFC East title after New England had claimed that crown for the last 11 seasons.

Entering Week 8, the Patriots have also lost three straight games and are facing the realization of potentially dropping their fourth game in a row and fifth game of the 2020 campaign following this weekend.

There’s no question the game on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo will be a big game for multiple reasons for Bill Belichick and company. And it could very well decide the fate and the direction of the team moving forward.

How the New England Patriots fare against Buffalo could decide their future.

If the Patriots were to lose the game, the team could decide that this is officially a lost season and could look to trade away some assets at the trade deadline on Nov. 3. A loss could also persuade Belichick and the coaching staff to try and look at some other talent on the team and some younger players to see what they have for seasons beyond just this year.

On the other side of things, if New England were to win in Week 8 on the road, that could push the organization to try and make a move to acquire some assets ahead of the trade deadline while trying to make a push for the AFC East title and dig itself out of a hole of a below-.500 record.

There’s no question the Patriots could use some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, and a win in Week 8 might result in them surveying the trade market to bring in a player to help quarterback Cam Newton and the rest of the offense.

You don’t want to jump to conclusions as far as if a season should be categorized as a lost season at this point in the year, as there are a decent amount of games remaining both against divisional opponents and teams outside of the division, but there’s no doubt New England will view Sunday’s game against Buffalo as a must-win contest.

Whatever the outcome is for the Patriots, either a win or loss, it will weigh heavily on the decision of where this franchise goes ahead of the trade deadline, for a remainder of the regular season and moving forward into the future while they try and return to a Super Bowl contending squad once again.