New England Patriots' Playoff Chances Disappear With Loss To LA Rams

The longest postseason streak in the NFL is about to come to an end. The New England Patriots’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams Thursday night all but guarantees that Bill Belichick’s team will be watching the playoffs from home for the first time in 12 years.

New England was defeated 24-3 to kick off the Week 14 schedule, dropping the Patriots’ record to 6-7. While not officially eliminated from contention yet, the defending AFC East champs have virtually no chance of climbing back into the playoff picture.

As the No.10 seed in the AFC, New England is 2.5 games out of the conference’s final wild-card spot with three games left to play. The Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders are currently out of the postseason and 1.5 games ahead of the Patriots in the standings.

FiveThirtyEight’s prediction model gives New England a 4% chance of making the playoffs and less than a 1% chance of winning the division.

The Buffalo Bills are 3.5 games ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East. A win for the Bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday would officially eliminate New England from the division race.

The Patriots have won 11 straight AFC East championships.

Tom Brady was New England’s starting quarterback for each of those division titles. With Cam Newton replacing the greatest quarterback of all time in 2020, the Patriots’ offense has struggled to move the ball down the field.

Newton was limited to 119 passing yards in Los Angeles. The veteran has five passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season, though he has rushed for 11 scores. Newton ranks 29th among all starters with a 78.9 passer rating.

The Patriots rank 25th with 21.3 points per game. New England had a top-10 scoring offense in each season from 2004-2019.

New England finishes the season with a matchup against each AFC East opponent in Weeks 15-17.