NFL Teams' Playoff Chances: Can the New England Patriots make the 2022/23 Playoffs?

The New England Patriots had a clear opportunity to defeat the Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving Day. However, too many mistakes and unforced errors led to a 33-26 defeat for Bill Belichick's squad.

The Patriots suffered a difficult setback as they currently sit in eighth place in the AFC rankings with a 6-5 mark. This puts them outside the postseason places and the No. 6 slot, the second wild-card spot. Additionally, New England holds the bottom seed in the AFC East division.

Over the next six weeks, the New England Patriots' task won't get any simpler. In fact, it gets a lot harder. The Patriots will play four sides presently in the postseason qualification places, including twice against the AFC East leaders, the Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots dynasty was well and blooming in the opening two decades of the century, but they've struggled to maintain title competitiveness in recent years.

The Patriots' prospects of making the playoffs didn't suffer significantly in Week 12 despite their defeat on Thanksgiving night in Minnesota. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Patriots presently have a 36% probability of making the playoffs. As you can expect, a lot depends on this week's matchup with the Buffalo Bills.

Luckily for the New England Patriots, their AFC playoff contenders also face a challenging opponent. The New York Jets will face an uphill task this weekend away at the Minnesota Vikings.

Suppose the Patriots get a win in their next two games against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday and the away game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. In that case, they will increase their likelihood of making the playoffs.

We have to keep our fingers crossed for this one, given the Bills' well-known supremacy over the Patriots in recent times.

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What lies ahead for the New England Patriots if they were to make it to the NFL playoffs?

January 14–16, 2023, sees the start of the NFL postseason games for the 2022-23 regular season. Three wild card matchups will take place on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Conference championship games are played the weekend after the divisional phase. The Super Bowl will be held two weeks after the conference championship matches.

On Sunday, February 12, at 6:30 p.m. ET, Super Bowl LVII will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.