The 2018 NFL regular season is halfway over and the New England Patriots are one game out of first place in the AFC. Despite holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, the (7-2) Patriots trail the (8-1) Kansas City Chiefs and will need some help if they are to claim much-needed homefield advantage in the playoffs.
The Patriots remaining schedule isn’t too daunting. They have two games against the (3-6) New York Jets, one against the (2-7) Buffalo Bills, and one against the hapless (5-4) Miami Dolphins. They also have games against the (5-2-1) Pittsburgh Steelers and (5-3-1) Minnesota Vikings.