The New England Patriots’ season is only seven games old, but they have already bested their win numbers of both 2024 and 2023. Beating the Tennessee Titans 31-13 on the road on Sunday, the have now improved
to 5-2 on the season — one win more than they were able to celebrate each of the last two years.
The win also had another effect, though. It helped the Patriots further solidify their spot in the AFC playoff picture and put more pressure on the other teams in the conference.
With the early window of Week 7 games in the books, here is what the playoff picture in the AFC currently looks like.
- Indianapolis Colts (5-2)
- New England Patriots (5-2)
- Los Angeles Chargers (4-2)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
- Buffalo Bills (4-2)
- Denver Broncos (4-2)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3)
On the bubble: 8. Kansas City Chiefs (4-3), 9. Cincinnati Bengals (3-4), 10. Houston Texans (2-3)
Not technically eliminated but let’s be real here: 11. Las Vegas Raiders (2-5), 12. Cleveland Browns (2-5), 13. Baltimore Ravens (1-5), 14. Miami Dolphins (1-6), 15. Tennessee Titans (1-6), 16. New York Jets (0-7)
The Patriots obviously have a long way to go, but they are very much alive in the competition for a spot in the tournament. That is especially true considering that the AFC is a two-class society at this point in time: no more than 10 teams seem to realistically be fighting for the seven available spots in the postseason, and New England has an advantage over a significant portion of them.
Obviously, the Chiefs are making a strong push and the whole competition is pretty tight. Still, Mike Vrabel and company being in this position seven games into his tenure as head coach is still impressive.
