The New England Patriots entered their bye week as the top seed in the AFC. They return to work on Monday in second position.

What happened? The Denver Broncos, who had already enjoyed their own bye, celebrated a 24-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. As a result, they have now drawn even with the 11-2 Patriots while holding the edge in the tiebreak department: Denver has a better record in common games and, at the moment, a superior conference record.

With the first of those tiebreakers no longer subject to change, the Patriots have only one way to finish ahead of the Broncos in the standings. They need to win at least one more game over the final four weeks of the season, meaning that they need some help to secure the top seed and associated playoff bye in the AFC.

All in all

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