The New England Patriots haven’t been to the NFL postseason since 2021, back when Bill Belichick and a rookie Mac Jones were the faces of the franchise. Their last division title came at the tail end of the Tom Brady era in 2019. Since then, Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye have taken over in Foxborough, Massachusetts, breathing new life into the team. The 2025 Patriots have been zeroing in on a playoff spot for weeks thanks to their 10 consecutive victories. Heading into Week 15, New England can finally clinch a playoff spot, and maybe even a division crown.
There are several different paths towards the Patriots locking up a playoff berth with four weeks left in the regular season. Here’s a quick breakdown of all the clinching scenarios for New England in Week 15:
New England Patriots Clinch AFC East Title With…
All the Patriots have to do to secure the division is beat the Bills on Sunday. A win would give New England a 3.0-game lead with three weeks to go, on top of moving them to 2-0 against the Bills. Even if the Patriots finished 0-3 and the Bills went 3-0 down the stretch, the former would still have the AFC East locked up.
If the Bills win Sunday and salvage a split in the head-to-head series, the tiebreaker scenario would be a lot less clear. For one, the Patriots’ lead atop the division would go down to 1.0 game with three weeks remaining. Should they finish the regular season with the same record as the Bills, the division championship would go to whichever team has a better combined record against the Dolphins and Jets. Buffalo is 2-1 in those divisional contests for now, while New England is 2-0.
New England Patriots Clinch Playoff Spot With…
There are seven different outcomes that would result in the Patriots punching their ticket to the postseason in the coming days. The cleanest, obviously, is New England beating Buffalo on Sunday. There are four alternative paths that include a Patriots-Bills tie, plus two that are independent of the Patriots-Bills result. Here are the different combinations of Week 15 results that fans across New England should root for:
- Patriots win
- Patriots tie AND Chargers loss
- Patriots tie AND Jaguars loss
- Patriots tie AND Texans loss/tie
- Patriots tie AND Colts loss/tie
- Texans loss AND Colts loss/tie
- Colts loss AND Texans loss/tie
New England Patriots Playoff Odds
DraftKings Sportsbook is no longer offering bets on the Patriots to simply make the playoffs. If you want to bet against them reaching the postseason, however, that scenario carries +20000 odds.
The Patriots are +115 to enter the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which ties them for the best odds alongside the Broncos. When it comes to the AFC East title, New England is -550 compared to Buffalo’s +400 odds, per DraftKings Sportsbook.
