Patriots can be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in Week 13

The New England Patriots, if all the pieces fall into place, can be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in Week 13, with five games remaining. We have hit rock bottom, folks! The Patriots are obviously not making the postseason this year, but their chances of making it are mathematically still alive.

There is a chance that their season effectively ends in Week 13. Here are the elimination scenarios for the Pats this coming week:

OK, so, a lot does need to happen, but it's possible! The first three things that need to happen are the Patriots losing, the Pittsburgh Steelers winning or tying, and the Indianapolis Colts winning or tying. The Steelers play the Arizona Cardinals and the Colts face off against the Tennessee Titans this coming week.

Both teams are likely to either win or tie, to be honest. I do think the Steelers could get upset by the now Kyler Murray-led Cardinals, and Titans' head coach Mike Vrabel does typically have his team ready to go, so I could also see a very realistic scenario where either the Steelers or Colts do lose.

Anyway, if they take care of business, the last piece to this equation gets confusing. There are five total elimination scenarios, and the last leg of them are as follows:

The Cleveland Browns winning or tying, OR the Cincinnati Bengals winning AND the Houston Texans winning, OR the Bengals tying AND the Texans winning, OR the Texans AND Denver Broncos tying, OR the Bengals winning or tying, and the Texans AND Broncos tying.

Yeah, it's confusing, but you can view the tweet above to see all of the scenarios separated out. Anyway, the point here is to say that it's possible, and it's been a pretty brutal season for Patriots fans. It's hard to watch most every week, and it's pretty crazy to think that the team managed to beat the Buffalo Bills...