Sometimes you can find some weird quirks in the way the NFL schedule unfolds. Last year because of the winter classic the Patriots closed out their season with trips to the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. Two ugly losses doomed them to the second seed and an eventual AFC Championship trip to Denver.
This season the Jets-Dolphins double to close out the season repeats itself, though the Jets game is in Gillette Stadium, and Bill Belichick will be hoping his team ends this season in better shape than last year.
All things considered, the 2016 version of the Patriots are entering the home stretch in a stronger position.