For the first time this season, the New England Patriots had to suffer back-to-back losses on Sunday: the team fell 23-16 to the visiting Kansas City Chiefs, and now finds itself sitting at 10-3 heading into the home stretch of the season. But while they know lose the head-to-head tiebreaker against not just the Chiefs but the other two division leaders in the AFC as well, the Patriots still control their own destiny in the conference’s postseason race.
As a look at the current playoff picture shows, the organization is still a game ahead of the third-seeded Chiefs and on its way to earning a first-round playoff bye for the 10th season in a row — even though it appears that the top seed is out of reach now:
- New England Patriots (10-3)
- Kansas City Chiefs (9-4)
After beating the Bills 24-17 on the road on Sunday, anything but the Ravens eventually locking up the top seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs would be a major surprise at this point.