Chowder and Champions
Fansided

Analyzing the New England Patriots 3 potential playoff matchups

By Max Bozicas

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 02: Hunter Henry #85 of the New England Patriots leaves the field after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 50-10 at Gillette Stadium on January 02, 2022 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 02: Hunter Henry #85 of the New England Patriots leaves the field after defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars 50-10 at Gillette Stadium on January 02, 2022 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next
New England Patriots
New England Patriots (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Thanks to an absolutely dominant win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and a Miami Dolphins loss to the Tennessee Titans, the New England Patriots have clinched a spot in the NFL playoffs. It’s nice to be back.

In all likelihood, the Patriots will be on the road in the wild card round to kick things off. Unless the New York Jets pull off some magic against the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots will not be able to leap over the Bills to win the AFC East next weekend. And while the AFC playoff picture is not set in stone yet, we now have a realistic idea of what will happen in Week 18.

The Titans are now the number one seed in the AFC thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs losing to the Cincinnati Bengals. All three teams have clinched their respective divisions, and the Titans play the Houston Texans in the final week of the regular season. If they take care of business as they should, they will get a week off thanks to the first round bye that comes with the top seed of each conference.

That leaves the Chiefs and Bengals locked to play a home game in two weeks, with the Bills likely to join them barring an upset. Odds are, the Patriots will be traveling to either Kansas City, Cincinnati, or Buffalo. All three are tough teams, and there are pros and cons to facing each of them. Which of them do the Patriots matchup the best with?

Home/New England Patriots