It’s not often that a late-November matchup is relevant for the Jets and the Patriots who are barely in the playoff picture, but here we are. Then again, it seems that if you’re a team on the east coast as of Week 11 anything is possible.
Both division rivals head into their Sunday matchup firmly in the playoff picture. Strangely enough, the whole AFC East would make the 2022 postseason if the regular season ended today. The unprecedented inclusion of an entire division is only possible thanks in large part because of the NFL’s addition of a No. 7 seed in the playoffs back in 2020.
The change gave just the No. 1 seed a bye week and added a wild-card team to each conference, making it a 14-team playoff. Its conference counterpart is also weirdly on the same path. The Commanders (5–5) are currently edged out by the 49ers for the No. 7 spot in the NFC while the rest of Washington’s division is firmly in the postseason picture.
