SI Power Rankings: Patriots Fall After Ugly Loss To Texans
Week 11 marked one of the worst losses of the season for the New England Patriots, and that's why they are ranked so low in this week's Sports Illustrated power rankings.
After a 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans last Sunday, the Patriots find themselves ranked No. 20 in SI's Week 12 power rankings.
Gary Grambling, who was the member of The MMQB in charge of creating the rankings this week, had this to say about New England:
For the second straight year they were outclassed in Houston; even with no Laremy Tunsil in the lineup for the Texans, New England didn’t get anywhere near Deshaun Watson. Envisioning Cam Newton complemented by the Patriots’ 2019 defense is a good thought exercise—rebuilding the defensive front seven and adding more weapons at receiver are probably more pressing short-term needs than quarterback in Foxboro.
After losing to the Texans and falling to 4-6, New England now has a seven percent chance of making the playoffs. Part of that is because of who they have remaining on their schedule.
The Patriots have the Cardinals, Chargers, Rams, Dolphins, Bills and Jets left to face. Of those games, the Jets are the only team that seems like a winnable game at this point for New England based on how the six-time Super Bowl champions have looked on both sides of the football through 10 games. Even at that, the Patriots squeaked out a 30-27 win over the Jets by a last-second field goal back in early November, so it's not out of the question that New York gets their first win of the season against New England in Week 17.
If the Patriots want to have any chance of making the playoffs, they need to win the remaining games on the schedule. But if they even lose a single game, their playoff hopes are diminished.
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