New England Patriots Facing Uphill Battle in the Postseason

Nice win yesterday afternoon, boys. The schedule does not look half bad, either, with a bad Oakland, an Arizona team that is historically poor on the East Coast and 3-4 in 2008 on the road, and a free-falling Buffalo.

Only problem is, the Jets and Dolphins are not exactly facing a world-beater schedule, either.

In the last three games, the Jets, while losers of two in a row, face the same slumping Bills at home, a road game against the same enigmatic Seahawks the Patriots barely got through, and a home game versus Miami.

The Dolphins should not have too much resistance in the next two weeks, either, with San Francisco at home and a road game versus Kansas City.

The biggest issue of this all is that the Patriots do not control their own destiny in the AFC East; running the table will not be enough to win the division. If the Patriots and Dolphins both win their next three games, the Dolphins win the division based on conference record. If the Patriots and Jets win out, the Jets win based on divisional record.

A wild card would not be out of the question, either, but that presents yet another problem for the Patriots: the Ravens.

At 9-4 and 7-3 in conference, the Ravens essentially have a two-game edge on New England at 8-5, 5-5 in conference. The Ravens did have a tough schedule, with Washington, Pittsburgh, and Dallas, but passed through Washington easily.

The next two games will pose a challenge for Baltimore, but they will need to lose both for the Patriots to overtake them in the standings.

Health issues have plagued New England all season as well, and Sunday's game did not help matters much. Seeing Le Kevin Smith and Mike Wright on the D-Line at the end of the game is not the most comforting sight in history.

I do think the Patriots can finish 11-5. A lot of me even believes they will. Whether or not it will even matter, however, remains to be seen.