Despite going on a 10-game win streak and finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record, which earned them the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, nearly everyone outside New England was not jumping on the Patriots bandwagon ahead of their wild-card game, with most analysts still doubting their legitimacy as a Super Bowl contender.
That seemingly fueled a team like the Chargers to rest their starters in Week 18 in hopes of playing the Patriots in the first round. It seemed like the Bills were also trying to accomplish that, but the Jets are such a bad team that it was nearly impossible for them to beat Buffalo, even without Josh Allen and other starters on the field.