The New England Patriots didn’t even need to lift a finger for Week 10 to feel like a win. It was an overall productive bye week filled with a little rest, recuperation and kicking back to watch possible playoff teams collapse in some dramatic finishes.
Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays, and so were the Patriots on a day when the sacrosanct smiles of the football gods beamed in their direction.
Their AFC East divisional rival Buffalo Bills took a tumble in a loss to the Cleveland Browns. Bills kicker Stephen Hauschka had an opportunity to make a 53-yard field goal and send the game into overtime, but his second miss of the day dropped the Bills to 6-3 on the season and gave the Patriots some breathing room.
But no heads are turning at the Bills losing on the road to an underachieving Browns team.
That reaction is reserved for the Kansas City Chiefs falling in a shocking defeat to the Tennessee Titans with a returning Patrick Mahomes behind center. The Chiefs, along with the Ravens, were believed to be one of the few teams that would actually push the Patriots for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Now they are three games behind the defending Super Bowl champions.
The Ravens are only one game behind the Patriots with a 7-2 record, and they’d obviously own the tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record by the end of the season.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson continued his brilliant campaign for league MVP by throwing for 223 yards, three touchdowns and finishing with a perfect passer rating. He also led the Ravens in rushing for 65 yards and one touchdown in a 49-13 drubbing of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Whether it’s Jackson or Mahomes, Gillette Stadium has a way of serving as the kryptonite for opposing quarterbacks—a regular house of horrors that might also serve as the only road to Super Bowl LIV.
