The New England Patriots have fought back into the AFC playoff picture.
Just a handful of weeks ago in the 2020 NFL season, it looked like the New England Patriots were a long shot to ultimately reach the playoffs yet again by the end of the year.
Coming into the 2020 campaign having claimed the AFC East 11-straight seasons and in 16 of the last 17 years and having made the playoffs every year since 2008, the Patriots kicked off the early portion of the regular season with a record of 2-5 while dropping near the bottom of both the division and the AFC standings before the halfway mark in the schedule.
Since that point, however, Bill Belichick and company have started to turn things around and have made things interesting as far as potentially making another push to appear in the playoffs at the end of the year.
Over the last five weeks, New England has been rolling and has been one of the hotter teams in the AFC and NFL during the span. Capped by a blowout victory on the road over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, the Patriots have won four of their last five games and have climbed back to the .500 mark on the season with an overall record of 6-6 going into the final four games of the year.
Although New England is still a long shot to reach the playoffs by the end of the regular season and there are still plenty of question marks on the team both in 2020 and moving forward, the Patriots are certainly making a push to try and extend their season beyond the 16-game regular season.
With the win over the Chargers in Week 13, New England is not only back at .500, but it is also on the brink of possibly snagging one of the final spots in the AFC Wild Card race.
How real are the postseason chances of the New England Patriots?
Going into the Week 13 Tuesday Night Football game — which is weird to say, but here we are in the year of COVID — between Baltimore and Dallas, New England still remains out of the postseason but has climbed back into the playoff picture going into Week 14.
The Patriots are chasing the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts for the final Wild Card spots in the AFC. Both Miami and Indianapolis enter Week 14 at 8-4 overall. New England also remains behind the Las Vegas Raiders (7-5) and the Ravens (6-5 going into the Week 13 game vs. Dallas on Tuesday) as teams sitting on the outside looking in.
Now just a few games back of the Wild Card spots in the AFC, New England’s chances — although slim — are starting to increase in terms of inching into the playoff picture. As of Monday, FiveThirtyEight lists the Patriots at 16 percent to make the playoffs.
When you look at the final four games left to play on New England’s schedule, there are some big games coming up, but games the Patriots could end up winning to round out the year. Especially if they play like they have been as of late.
The rest of the way, New England will face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14 and Miami Dolphins in Week 15 both on the road, finishing the regular season with home games against the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 and New York Jets in Week 17. All games that could be viewed as close, possibly winnable games.
The Patriots likely won’t claim the AFC East title for a 12th straight season here in 2020, and they are still a long shot to ultimately reach the playoffs by year’s end. But New England is doing its best to do just that and they are actually back into the postseason picture leading into Week 14.