The New England Patriots got absolutely walloped 45-27 by the Green Bay Packers in Week 9, a tough blow for a squad that stormed into the 2026 season with high expectations after making it to the Super Bowl. This kind of defeat makes hitting those goals a much bigger challenge than anyone thought heading into the year.
AFC East Battleground
Man, that Week 9 loss to the Packers wasn’t just a scoreboard disaster, it had real implications for the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills are still cruising at 6-1, sitting pretty at the top. Our Patriots? They’re now 5-4, battling for every inch. Yeah, we bagged a head-to-head win against the Bills in Week 4, which was huge, but what good is that if you can’t even get level in the standings? Getting back on even footing with Buffalo is going to take a massive effort from New England, plus, we need those rivals to actually slip up a bit. The rest of the division? Business as usual, unfortunately. The Jets got clobbered 35-12 by the Chiefs, pushing them closer to another rebuild. And the Dolphins, whose only win this season was against New York, couldn’t make enough plays, dropping a 19-9 game to the Lions.
The Wild Card Tightrope
Alright, let’s talk about the big picture, the AFC playoff race. The 45-27 loss stung, no doubt, but here’s the kicker: the Patriots are somehow still in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot in the AFC. How wild is that?
Right now, the top of the conference looks like this:
* Buffalo Bills (6-1)
* Denver Broncos (7-2)
* Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2)
* Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
Then you hit the Wild Card spots:
* Kansas City Chiefs (6-2)
* Cincinnati Bengals (6-2)
* New England Patriots (5-4)
Yeah, our boys are still hanging in that crucial 7th spot. But look who’s breathing down their necks on the bubble: The Cleveland Browns are also 5-4, then you have the Las Vegas Raiders (4-5), Baltimore Ravens (4-5), and Houston Texans (3-5) all right there.
The good news is, New England has some solid advantages over the Browns. Their conference record is better, and they currently own the strength of victory and strength of schedule tiebreakers. With no head-to-head matchup on the calendar, those tiebreakers could seriously decide who gets into the postseason when it all shakes out. It’s a long road, and we’re definitely ceding ground to other wild card contenders, but for now, the Patriots are still controlling their own destiny.
So, even with that painful 45-27 domination by the Packers, the Patriots are still holding their fate in their hands. It’s way too early for full-on playoff obsession, we get it, but the fight is real. Keeping that wild card spot means every game is a battle, especially with the Browns pushing hard. The good news? Our boys still control where they land. Let’s see if they can turn this around and keep that grip on their destiny.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pats Pulpit.
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