Patriots could be down big before even stepping on field vs Broncos

It was far from a pretty win, and there's a lot they will want back, but the Patriots are officially on their way to the AFC Championship to face the Broncos after beating the Texans at home. It's an unforeseen path they have gone down this season, since many believed they would win a max of eight or nine games and miss the playoffs.

But the MVP-level performance from Drake Maye and a defense that has really lit it up over the past month have paved the way to a Super Bowl appearance, which only looks more possible after this past weekend's results.

The Patriots are set to face a Bo Nix-less Broncos team, and after what we saw from the game on Sunday, there's a chance they might have to do it without one of their star cornerbacks. Carlton Davis III left the matchup in the second half with a head injury and was eventually ruled out.

He might have had a few plays fans were unhappy about, but he also recorded two interceptions and four pass breakups that really put the team in a good position to get the job done.

It would be a devastating loss if he suffered an injury that forces him to be kept sidelined next week.

It would be terrible for the Patriots to lose Carlton Davis III for the AFCCG

Nothing has been reported yet about Davis' specific injury, so there's a chance it wasn't a concussion but just a head injury.

But if it is a concussion, that creates a potential problem in the secondary, much like the concerns stemming from last week's game against the Chargers, when Christian Gonzalez left the game and headed for concussion protocol.

Given Davis' contributions on defense over the past month, more specifically this past weekend, they need him on the field as much as possible. They have the fortune of having Alex Austin back and able to play, and, of course, the continually impressive performances from Marcus Jones, so that's certainly good.

However, there's a big difference between when Davis and Gonzalez are on the field together versus when they're not, and in the AFC Championship, it would be far better to have their best guys on the field rather than not.

We'll have to monitor the situation throughout the week, and hopefully Mike Vrabel will address Davis' injury as soon as possible, to give us a better understanding of what's going on and what his immediate future might look like.