Coming off a Super Bowl berth, the New England Patriots entered the 2026 season with some high expectations. Those have not changed, but Sunday’s 45-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers showed that meeting them might become even more of a challenge than initially anticipated.
What will happen over the coming weeks and months remains to be seen, of course, but for now let’s focus on the concrete impact that defeat had on the standings.
- Buffalo Bills (7-1)
- New England Patriots (5-4)
- New York Jets (2-7)
- Miami Dolphins (1-7)
The Patriots defending their AFC East title will be a challenge, even though they own the head-to-head advantage over the Bills courtesy of their Week 4 victory in Buffalo. However, what good is that advantage if you cannot get even in the standings? And with New England falling to 5-4 and the Bills winning their seventh game on Monday night against the Vikings, doing so will be tough.
Not only will the Patriots need the Bills to start dropping some games to overcome their current 2.5-point deficit, they themself also cannot allow many more slip-ups. Considering that five of their final eight opponents currently reside in either the AFC or NFC playoff pictures, that is far from a given.
Elsewhere in the AFC East Week 9 was business as usual. The Jets lost 35-12 to the Chiefs and are inching closer toward rebuild category once more, while the Dolphins — whose lone win this season came against New York — were once again unable to make enough plays to prevent a 19-9 loss to the Lions.
- Buffalo Bills (7-1)
- Denver Broncos (7-2)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (6-2)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)
- Kansas City Chiefs (6-2)
- Cincinnati Bengals (6-2)
- New England Patriots (5-4)
On the bubble: 8. Cleveland Browns (5-4), 9. Las Vegas Raiders (4-5), 10. Baltimore Ravens (4-5), 11. Houston Texans (3-5)
Not yet eliminated, but let’s be real here: 12. New York Jets (2-7), 13. Indianapolis Colts (2-7), 14. Miami Dolphins (1-7), 15. Tennessee Titans (1-7), 16. Los Angeles Chargers (0-8)
Even though they were dominated on Sunday, the Patriots still remain in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot in the AFC. They do have multiple advantages over the only other 5-4 team in the conference, the Browns.
New England’s conference record is superior, while it also owns the strength of victory and strength of schedule tiebreakers at the moment. With no head-to-head matchup on the schedule, those tiebreakers might decide who makes it to the postseason when all is said and done.
Of course, there is still a long way to go before any conversations about the playoffs become serious. For the time being, though, the Patriots are still in control of their own destiny even if they ended up ceding more ground to the other wild card competitors.
- San Francisco 49ers (7-1)
- Chicago Bears (7-2)
- New York Giants (5-2-1)
- Carolina Panthers (3-5)
- Detroit Lions (6-2)
- Minnesota Vikings (6-2)
- Green Bay Packers (6-3)
On the bubble: 8. Seattle Seahawks (5-4), 9. Los Angeles Rams (5-4), 10. Dallas Cowboys (4-5), 11. New Orleans Saints (3-5), 12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6), 13. Atlanta Falcons (3-6)
Not yet eliminated, but let’s be real here: 14. Arizona Cardinals (3-6), 15. Washington Commanders (2-5-1), 16. Philadelphia Eagles (2-7)
Losers of back-to-back games following their 6-0 start, the Vikings dropped all the way to the sixth seed in the NFC on Monday night. They are still well-positioned for a playoff push, however, as is the rest of their division: all three wild card spots are occupied by NFC North teams, as is the No. 2 seed.
The Seahawks and Rams, meanwhile, are both outside the playoff picture despite their winning records. The fourth seen, meanwhile, is occupied by a 3-5 Panthers team leading the worst division in football.
