Patriots Blog: The Playoff Picture
BOSTON (CBS) - The Patriots hate to look ahead, but we in the media love it.
The one thing the Pats loss to the 49ers did was put them in a tough playoff position. They now sit at the three-seed in the AFC, and have to depend on other teams to move up.
The 12-2 Texans and 11-3 Broncos sit above the Patriots, which right now means no bye, just one home game, and a potential trip to Denver in the second round.
Read: Brady Hungry Following Loss
But the Patriots don't care about anything they can't control, and right now all they can control is how they play against the Jaguars and Dolphins over the next two weeks.
"I don't really care. There is nothing we can do about any of them," Bill Belichick said of the Texans and Broncos. "I think what we need to worry about is the New England Patriots and you guys the media can take care of all that stuff. We have plenty of things we need to do besides worry about everybody else."
If the Patriots win their next two games, which is no stretch, they need a Broncos loss or two Texans' losses. The Broncos close with the 5-9 Browns and 2-12 Chiefs at home, so chances are they will win out. The Texans have a tough matchup this weekend, hosting the playoff-hopeful Minnesota Vikings, and close the season in Indianapolis, but it's highly unlikely they will drop both of those games.
Battleground Maps: Will The Pats Win By 14 Or More?
The Patriots will focus on taking care of business on their end, and then sit back and see if they can get some help. But it's more than likely we are looking at a Wild Card weekend matchup at Gillette. The game for Pats fans to keep an eye on this weekend is the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati matchup. Pittsburgh is currently on the outside looking into, with Cincinnati holding the final wild card spot -- and a ticket to New England (for now).
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Jaguars game at 1pm on WBZ-TV and 98.5 The Sports Hub. Pregame coverage begins on 98.5 with Patriots Preview at 10am, followed by three hours of postgame coverage after the game. WBZ-TV kicks off their coverage at 11:30am with Patriots GameDay, followed by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's postgame press conferences on Patriots 5th Quarter after the game.
