With the AFC East title within reach, the New England Patriots suffered a major collapse last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. The 35-31 defeat, which at one point saw the Patriots up by three touchdowns, cost the team a chance at wrapping up the division early.
And yet, fans remain confident that they will eventually get the job done. As a look at the results from the latest SB Nation Reacts survey shows, 75% of participants still believe that the Patriots will end up as division champions for the first
time since 2019.
In order to do so, a win on Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens would be helpful. Fans are also optimistic that that will happen, although they do expect a close game: 65% see a one-score affair, with 41% picking New England to win on the road.
The comment section also reflects those feelings:
RJB33
I think they will.
The Pats may very well lose to the Ravens, and back-to-back losses will lead to some panic and soul-searching. But playing the Jets, historically, is an excellent antidote to a crisis of confidence. And right now, the Dolphins look like a mess; I’d been starting to worry about them as they played better over the last few weeks, but now they’re eliminated from the playoffs and benching Tua.
If the game was in Miami, I’d still worry. Weird things always happen to the Pats in Miami! But a home game against 7th round draftee Quinn Ewers? No offense, but I’m not that worried.
Closing out the year with two straight wins will leave the Pats 13-4 and with the tiebreaker even if Buffalo wins out. Where they go from there, I shouldn’t hazard a guess. If we end up playing Houston’s defense in Round One, maybe not far. But it would still be a spectacular season against expectations, and yes, it would mean the divisional title returning to Foxborough.Ricky Hot Pants
I think they will also. But as far as beating the Ravens this week…I just don’t know. “Don’t Know” should have been a choice in the survey. Which Patriots team shows up? The 30 minute or the 60 minute?TDDsDad
Yes, yes, and less than one TD. I think that Vrabel will get the team’s collective heads out of their collective asses and they play competitive football for 60 minutes for a change. It will come down to whoever has the ball last.Sportzballer
Yes. Yes. More than one.
I do think the Patriots are going generally in the right direction. However, the is is still way too binary. The main trajectory of the team is going the right way. However, I have a few concerns about the trade deadline. I have more concerns about injuries, which are simply poor luck. I’m afraid the oversimplified poll might lead to more oversimplified analyses. The why is more important than the results.
The division shouldn’t even be the question it currently is given the wins lead we had over the Bills. It’s a shame we let them back into the hunt, but I still think we hold them off to win the AFC East. My primary concerns are postseason related.
The Ravens are kind of a mess. I don’t think a Patriots team motivated by a recent loss will lose to them.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
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Even though the Patriots blew their chance at clinching the AFC East last week, fan confidence in the team remains fairly high. While down 4% from last week and a total of 8% since before their bye week, a 91% approval rate for the team’s direction is still strong.
For comparison, only six other teams are ranked higher heading into Week 16. Not among those are the Bills’ (51%) and Ravens’ (22%) fan bases.
