Pats’ Path To The Playoffs On Life Support

As if it wasn't difficult enough before, the New England Patriots' path to the postseason in 2020 took a massive blow with last night's 24-3 loss to the L.A. Rams.

Here is what needs to happen during the remainder of the regular season for the Patriots to clinch a spot in the playoffs...

Week 14:

* Kansas City beats Miami

* Indianapolis beats Las Vegas

* Cleveland beats Baltimore

Wild card picture: 7. Miami (8-5)

In the hunt: 8. Las Vegas (7-6), 9. Baltimore (7-6), 10. New England (6-7)

Week 15:

* New England beats Miami

Problems…

- Vegas hosts the Chargers. Likely a W.

- Baltimore hosts Jacksonville. Easy W.

(Colts host Texans, Browns @ Giants, but we’re not concerned about those two).

Wild card pitcure: 7. Las Vegas (8-6)

In the hunt: 8. Miami (8-6), 9. Baltimore (8-6), 10. New England (7-7)

Week 16:

*Pats beat the Bills on Monday Night Football

*Dolphins beat Raiders. (Pats need a Miami victory here, as a win in South Beach will give the Pats the tie-breaker vs. Miami. New England already owns the tie-breaker vs. Vegas, so a Raiders loss to Miami would move them out of the picture).

*Giants @ Ravens, Pats NEED G-Men to win this game in order to get Baltimore to seven losses.

Wild card picture: 7. Miami (9-6)

In the hunt: 8. New England (8-7), 9. Vegas (8-7), 10. Baltimore (8-7) (Here, the Pats leapfrog the two teams in front of them "in the hunt" as they own the head-to-head tie-breaker vs. both Vegas and Baltimore).

Week 17:

*Pats beat the Jets. Should be a gimme.

*Bills beat the Dolphins (Bills could need a win to lock in the 3-seed, or even move up to two if Pittsburgh stumbles, so this game should have meaning to Buffalo).

And that's it. Doesn't matter what happens anywhere else in Week17. If these exact chain of events take place, the Patriots beat out Miami, Baltimore and Las Vegas for the 3rd wild card and the 7th seed in the AFC playoffs.

But let's be real...the likelihood of this all coming to fruition is not great...