Patriots' Rooting Guide for 2024 NFL Draft Implications of Week 18
The New England Patriots enter Week 18 in a three-team fight for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
The easy path to the No. 2 pick is for the Patriots to lose their season finale and for the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders to win their respective games.
However, losing will not be easy on Sunday since the Patriots are going up against the New York Jets.
New England completed the regular-season sweep over the Jets in each of the last seven seasons.
A loss on Sunday would be tremendous for the team's future, but it would also come with the end of a dominant run against an AFC East rival.
In addition to rooting for Arizona and Washington to win, the Patriots need a result in the NFC South to go in their favor to help with a tiebreaker against the Commanders.
Commanders over Cowboys
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The Patriots would love for the Commanders to play spoiler to the Dallas Cowboys' NFC East title hopes.
Washington enters Week 18 in front of the Patriots in the projected draft order. The Commanders are the only team New England can jump since the Chicago Bears secured the No. 1 overall pick through the Carolina Panthers last week.
All hope is not lost with Washington because there could be motivation to send head coach Ron Rivera off with a victory.
Rivera's job seems to be on the chopping block now that the new Commanders ownership is in place and making decisions.
Washington has not won since its Week 9 triumph over the Patriots, a win that could come into play for tiebreakers in the draft order, but if it can pull off the unlikely and win, it would help out the Patriots' cause.
Cardinals over Seahawks
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The Arizona Cardinals' Week 17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles threw them behind the Commanders and Patriots in the draft order.
New England would love to see another strong performance out of Kyler Murray, James Conner and Co. against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Seattle is still playing for an NFC wild-card spot, but if the Green Bay Packers are up big at halftime, the Seahawks may lose motivation. The Packers must lose for the Seahawks to win and get in.
Arizona trended in the right direction since Murray returned and Week 18 is the final chance he has to impress head Jonathan Gannon and the front office.
A strong close to the season combined with a draft pick outside the top three could convince the Cardinals to keep Murray and build around him, instead of tearing down the entire roster.
Falcons over Saints
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NBC's Steve Kornacki told NFL Network's Peter Schrager about the importance of the Atlanta Falcons-New Orleans Saints game to the No. 2 pick race earlier this week.
The Patriots need the Falcons to win to help them in the strength of schedule tiebreaker against the Commanders.
Kornacki outlined that the combined record of Washington's opponents is 140-132, while New England's opponents are 141-131.
The Falcons-Saints game would serve as a potential swing game because the Falcons played the Commanders and the Patriots played the Saints.
A Saints loss is beneficial to the Patriots' strength of schedule tiebreaker, and while it does not guarantee the No. 2 pick to New England, it would go a long way in helping them earn that spot.
There is a scenario in which the Commanders and Patriots finish with the same strength of schedule, which would then trigger the head-to-head tiebreaker. New England would get the No. 2 pick in that case.
The head-to-head tiebreaker likely will not come into play if New Orleans wins, so the Patriots have to root for the Falcons to potentially shift the tiebreakers in their favor.
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