Patriots keep NFL’s best record, AFC East lead, closing in on clinching playoff berth

FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots have the best record in the NFL and a win total that no team has ever missed the playoffs with.

Monday’s 33-15 win over the Giants improved the Patriots to 11-2. They’re one of just two teams with only two losses.

Since the playoffs expanded to seven teams per conference in 2020, no team with 11 wins has ever missed the playoffs.

The win allowed the Patriots to:

Put pressure on the Broncos, who are a half-game back at 10-2 in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed and
Maintain their two-game lead in the loss column over the Bills in theAFC East.

Where things stand in race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed:

AFC Top seed

	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA
New England	11	2	0	.846	351	241
Denver	10	2	0	.833	284	218

The Broncos (10-2) needed overtime to beat the Commanders on Sunday night.

Should they finish with the same record, Denver currently holds the common opponent tie-breaker over the Patriots because they beat the Raiders.

The Colts dropped two games behind in the loss column with Sunday’s home loss to Houston. They’re not even in first place in the AFC South anymore at 8-4, as the Jaguars (8-4) have a better conference record.

All five of Indianapolis’ remaining games are against teams that are still in either the AFC or NFC playoff picture. They’ll have a hard time climbing back in.

The Broncos have four games left against teams competing for a playoff spot.

The Patriots’ remaining schedule

Dec. 14 vs. Buffalo
Dec. 21 at Baltimore
Dec. 28 at NY Jets
Jan. 4 vs Miami

The Broncos’ remaining schedule:

Dec. 7 at Las Vegas
Dec. 14 vs Green Bay
Dec. 21 vs Jacksonville
Dec. 25 at Kansas City
Jan. 4 vs LA Chargers

Where things stand in race for AFC East seed:

Buffalo’s win over Pittsburgh kept them in the race, but they’ll likely need to beat New England head-to-head as well as get some help to have any shot of winning the division.