Patriots seek playoff berth on Sunday Night Football

By: Anthony McCulley


Patriots seek playoff berth on Sunday Night Football



The New England Patriots (11-3) are seeking their twelfth win on the year, entering a raucous M&T Bank Stadium to play the Baltimore Ravens on primetime. 


The Patriots look to go into Baltimore and beat a Lamar Jackson led Ravens team that has had their ups and downs this season. The biggest storyline with the Ravens has been the availability of Lamar Jackson, who has missed six games this season due to various injuries. On Wednesday, the Ravens were without star quarterback Lamar Jackson as he was dealing with an illness. This absence marked the fifth consecutive week where he missed practice time. 


Jackson is set to start against the Patriots Sunday night. Jackson is coming off a 24-0 win against the Bengals in week 15. He connected on eight of his twelve passes, throwing for 150 yards through the air and two touchdowns and one interception. Jackson took off two times in the game which combined for a total of 26 yards on the ground. 


The New England defense will look to contain Lamar Jackson who can not only throw but run as well. Derrick Henry at halfback and Receiver Zay Flowers who is on pace for a 1,000 yard season. Flowers is leading the team with 959 yards.


The player I have my eyes on this game is star Running Back Derrick Henry. Henry is leading the team with 233 carries on 1,125 yards for the year. He has 10 rushing touchdowns and he is averaging about 80 yards rushing per game. 


For the second straight game, the Patriots will be without linebacker Robert Spillane. He has been dealing with an ankle injury late in the year and did not practice the last three days. The Patriots are walking a thin line with their linebackers with injuries to Spillane and Landry. Christian Elliss is dealing with an illness which limited him in practice on Thursday and was a full participant on Friday. He is listed as questionable. 


Jack Gibbens and Marte Mapu will likely share the workload in containing Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. 


Drake Maye is currently putting up a pro bowl caliber season. He has yet another chance to show who he is to do just that against an always competitive John Harbaugh led Ravens team. 


Maye has 3,567 yards on the year with a 23-7 TD-INT ratio. He is currently ranked 6th among active quarterbacks with his consistent play and his ability to lead his team to victories. Maye is averaging about 255 yards a game. As of now, he is averaging about 71 percent of his passes completed. 


Playoff implications are on the line to set the mood for a Sunday primetime game as the Ravens and Patriots seek playoff spots. The Ravens are 7-7 which places them on the bubble of a playoff spot. They are just behind the 8-6 Indianapolis Colts. Starting this week, the Ravens need to win out and rely on some losses by the Colts and the Texans, who are currently the 7 seed in these playoffs. The division race is heating up down the stretch with the Steelers in first place at 8-6. 



The Steelers took the first matchup in week 14 by a score of 27-22. The final matchup of the year for these two will come week 18 when they clash again in Pittsburgh


New England can clinch a playoff berth with a win or tie. They can also clinch with a Texans loss or tie to the Raiders and a Colts loss to the 49ers.  

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