EVEN WITH WINS, PATRIOTS NEED HELP

Right when it looked like the Patriots would be alone atop the AFC East, JP Losman fumbled the ball. The Bills quarterback was hit by Jets safety Abram Elam, who knocked the ball loose just as Losman was attempting to throw it. Shaun Ellis recovered and took the pigskin into the end zone, giving the Jets a 31-27 lead with 1:54 to play at the Meadowlands yesterday afternoon. Of course, they held on to beat the Bills by that same score. Meanwhile down south, the Dolphins seemed to be getting manhandled by San Francisco, but the 49'ers just couldn't get the ball into the end zone. Even though they ran 79 offensive plays, 37 more than Miami, the Dolphins narrowly escaped, 14-9.

So, as the Pats kicked off their game in Oakland yesterday, it was another must win. Against the Raiders, it was over early. New England's offense dominated the overmatched Oakland D, with the Patriots gaining 277 yards on the ground. Matt Cassel threw a career high four touchdown passes in the 49-26 victory, including two to ex-Raider Randy Moss. So after another Sunday, the Patriots find themselves in the exact same spot, tied with the Jets and Dolphins atop the AFC East.

Unfortunately for New England, they are third in the tiebreakers, so winning out won't necessarily guarantee a playoff berth. If the Jets and Dolphins, who play each other in week 17, both win next week, the Patriots can not win the division. With Indianapolis poised to grab the first wild card spot, the Pats would need a Baltimore loss to sneak in as the sixth and final seed. Baltimore plays at Dallas next week, and at Jacksonville to close out the year.

No team that went 11-5 in the regular season has ever missed the playoffs. But with the Dolphins playing well, and the Jets playing Seattle next week, it looks like that may just happen. Hopefully one of them will lose, and the other will lose in the final regular season game. At this point, that just doesn't seem very likely. The Pats best chance to make it appears to be a Ravens loss. Of course, if they lose to either Arizona or Buffalo, whatever happens outside of Foxboro doesn't really matter.