Despite Sunday’s upset win over the Buffalo Bills, making any sort of playoff push would seemingly still be a long shot for the 2-5 New England Patriots.
Boomer Esiason isn’t ruling it out, though. Making his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show (listen to the full interview above), the CBS analyst and WFAN host made the case that the Patriots’ schedule could be a blessing if they can continue to play the way they played Sunday.
“We're going to know a little bit more about them over the next six games, because I'm assuming that they can probably hang with the next six teams that are on their schedule,” Esiason said. “That includes the Miami Dolphins next week, but then come the Commanders, the Colts, the Giants.
“I mean, this is a stretch of their schedule here now where they should be able to, I'm hoping, win five out of the next six. That would be something that I think would be a lofty goal for sure, but something that is also realistic. … I just think that this is a stretch now where they can maybe get themselves back in the mix here.”
The AFC East-leading Dolphins are definitely the toughest opponent on paper during that stretch, but the Patriots already played them tough back in Week 2 in Foxboro. Then, as Esiason points out, the next four are against teams that are currently under .500, with the Chargers following that Commanders-Colts-Giants stretch. The sixth game of this stretch Esiason highlighted is against the Steelers, who are 4-2 but also a beatable team.
After Sunday’s win, the Patriots are actually just two games out of a playoff spot, with the now 4-3 Bills sitting in the final AFC wild card position.
Of course, beating teams with losing records has not even been close to a guarantee for this year’s Patriots. They got blown out by the 3-4 Saints two weeks ago and lost to the 3-4 Raiders last week as well.
If the Patriots are going to have any shot at taking advantage of their schedule and jumping into the playoff race, they’re first going to have to prove that Sunday was the start of a real turnaround and not just a one-week blip.