Before the Patriots and Texans kicked off Sunday night in Houston, New England received some positive news as it related to its push toward a potential bye in the AFC playoffs.
Thanks to the Steelers’ 33-20 road win over the Bengals, the Pats now have a much greater shot at landing one of the two top seeds in the conference. Cincy fell to 10-3 with the loss and still has to play at Denver in two weeks. The top-seeded Broncos also have an extremely tough game this coming Sunday at the aforementioned Steelers. Pittsburgh is still clawing for playoff positioning at 8-5 as the Chiefs (8-5) and Jets (8-5) both hold conference tie-breakers in the wild card race.