How the Patriots can be eliminated from the NFL playoffs in Week 14

[PatNation]

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports New England will likely be out of postseason contention by this time next week. The New England Patriots are in prime position to be the first AFC team mathematically eliminated from the 2023 playoffs this week. The 1-11 Carolina Panthers punched their tickets to the golf course this past weekend with a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and while the Patriots did their job and got shut out at home by the Chargers, enough happened around the league to keep them technically alive for one more week — most importantly, a win by the Arizona Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Steelers to give the Patriots the inside lane for the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This week, though, finds the Patriots with a much more direct path to the inevitable. In Week 13, New England needed a loss and an odd combination of other events to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. However, the Patriots are very much in control of their own destiny in Week 14. The New England Patriots will be mathematically eliminated from the 2023 postseason with:

• A loss or tie to the Pittsburgh Steelers;

OR any ONE of the following events:

• Houston Texans win/tie (vs. New York Jets);
• Cincinnati Bengals win/tie (vs. Indianapolis Colts);
• Las Vegas Raiders win (vs. Minnesota Vikings) AND Buffalo Bills win/tie (vs. Kansas City Chiefs);
• Las Vegas Raiders tie (vs. Minnesota Vikings) AND Buffalo Bills win (vs. Kansas City Chiefs);

Not that any of this matters. While they aren’t mathematically eliminated yet, this team’s playoff hopes pretty much died all the way back in Week 5 when they got blown out at home by the New Orleans Saints. But, it will be nice to make it official. Let’s all gear up for a primetime matchup for the ages: Mitchell Trubisky vs. Bailey Zappe on Thursday night. The game hasn’t even started yet and we’ve all already lost.

Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/6/23 ... os-week-14