Looking at the playoff scenarios.
Sunday's loss to the 49ers hurt more than the New England Patriots' pride. It also knocked the team down to the third seed in the AFC, and severely hurt their odds of earning a first-round playoff bye.
At 10-4, New England sits behind the Houston Texans (12-2) and Denver Broncos (11-3) in the AFC standings. For the Patriots to win back the No. 2 seed, they'll have to win out against Miami and Jacksonville and hope that Denver loses to either the Cleveland Browns (5-9) or Kansas City Chiefs (2-12).
For the Pats to win the top seed, Houston would have to lose to both Minnesota and Indianapolis over the final two weeks.
So it looks like the Patriots are headed for the three seed. Currently they'd host Cincinnati (8-6), but Pittsburgh (7-7), Indianapolis (9-5), or, if everything falls right for them, the New York Jets (6-7) could end up as the sixth-seeded team.