When can we realistically expect the Patriots to win another game?

FOXBORO -- The Boston Red Sox have more wins in October than the New England Patriots. It looks like it will stay that way, despite the Red Sox playing their last game over two weeks ago.

The Patriots fell to 1-5 on the season with Sunday's 21-17 loss in Las Vegas, with the lone win on the season against the Jets on Sept. 24. They likely won't win again until the calendar flips to November.

There were some signs of improvement against the Raiders on Sunday. The Patriots didn't lose by 30 and with an improved run game, they put touchdowns on the board for the first time since their only win on the season in Week 3. That is something, at least. 

But the Patriots continued to be their own worst enemy. Horrendous penalties -- there were 10 of them on Sunday -- and missed opportunities haunt the team, and they have no one to blame but themselves. Whether it was another ill-advised interception by Mac Jones or a crushing dropped pass by DeVante Parker, the Patriots are not making the plays they need to make. 

In their three non-blowout losses on the season, the Patriots didn't make late-game plays that could have changed the outcome. That is the difference from being a relevant team, and whatever the Patriots are right now. 

Answers are short to come by in Foxboro, and the pressure is only going to mount to right the ship. Unfortunately, it may be a while before the Patriots win another game.

If you're in the other camp that wants to tank for a better draft pick, that's great news for you. (As it stands, the Patriots would have the sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft.) And your bandwagon is going to get crowded quick, because realistically, the Patriots may not win another football game until November.

New England's next two opponents are AFC East foes in the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. The Bills come to Foxboro for Week 7, and do so after barely sneaking out a 14-9 win over the New York Giants on Sunday night. They're going to be an angry bunch and will probably view this weekend against the Patriots as a "get right" game. That's what the Patriots have become: A punching bag for the NFL's good teams.

It seems like 1-6 is in New England's very near future. And 1-7 won't be far behind.

After Buffalo comes to town, the Pats travel to Miami to take on the powerhouse Dolphins. New England played Miami tough in Week 2, but again, couldn't make the plays that they needed to at the end and lost, 24-17. The Dolphins are 5-1 after doubling up on the Panthers on Sunday, 42-21, and have scored an NFL-best 223 points this season. The Pats have scored a third of those points (72) and have no shot at keeping up in a track meet in Miami.

Unless something miraculous happens over the next two weeks, the Patriots are looking at a woeful 1-7 start to the season. When will the misery end?

There's a good chance the Patriots will get back in the win column sometime early in November. We think. Maybe, maybe they can beat the Commanders at Gillette Stadium on Nov. 5. Maybe. 

Those are the kinds of games you would circle as an easy "W" for New England, but such a concept no longer exists. The Saints were supposed to be one of those matchups, and they came into Gillette and stomped the Patriots to the tune of 34-0.

But that game starts a three-game stretch of "holy cow you better win these" tilts for the Pats. After Washington, they head to Germany to face the Colts -- a home game for the Patriots, sparing New England fans a home game this season --  who are a surprising 3-2 this season. That's no sure victory for the Patriots. Hitting their bye week at 2-8 or ... gulp ... 1-9 seems likely.

The Patriots will then have two weeks to prepare for a showdown with the Giants, who currently sit at 1-5 and are ahead of New England in the 2024 draft order. By Nov. 26, both teams may (should?) be in full tank mode, which would make that game all the more important to ... not win. But the Giants have been really good at giving games away this season, so that may be a pretty tough battle to, again, not win.

That will likely be the last time anyone feels confident about a matchup this season.

The Pats will then host the Chargers and then travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers in a span of four days. Both of those would be seen as extremely winnable in years past, but here we are. That stretch is followed by the Chiefs on Monday Night Football (for now), which we can just go ahead and pencil in as a loss. Taylor Swift could play QB for the Chiefs and they'd still probably put up more points than the New England offense that evening.

The Pats could be flexed out of prime time for a second straight week after that, with a Christmas Eve matchup against the ghastly Broncos in Denver. Another potentially winnable game, but Denver has never been too kind to Belichick and the Pats. 

New England finishes the season at Buffalo and home against the Jets. Maybe the Bills won't be playing for anything, but after years of embarrassing losses to the Patriots, they are eager to embarrass New England any chance they get. And while the Pats have won 15 straight against the Jets, New York has gotten better and better since Week 3. They may actually be playing for something in the final week, and will be highly motivated to snap their losing streak against New England.

Not even the Jets can be chalked up as a sure thing anymore. How depressing.

The Patriots have little shot to snap their skid against the Bills or the Dolphins over the next few weeks. Three "winnable" games follow, and could be the last time we feel any good about this team on a Sunday. But the team will have to make plays to win those games, and as we've seen the last six weeks, the Patriots are currently allergic to making big plays.

It's only mid-October and the Patriots have been essentially eliminated from the playoffs. At this point, they'd be lucky to win more than four games on the season.