Events

Patriots host Baker Mayfield’s Browns in a critical AFC contest

Cleveland and New England could be jostling for a playoff spot, and their head-to-head matchup could later decide which gets in.

Patriots Jamie Collins and Adam Butler sacking Cleveland Browns Baker Mayfield during fourth quarter action at Gillette Stadium. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

By Dave D'Onofrio

1 minute to read

It used to be that the biggest games on the Patriots’ schedule were those against the AFC’s other true heavyweights — the Colts and Steelers for a while, then teams like the Ravens, Broncos, and Chiefs at different points thereafter — because those were the foes they were battling for a bye in the playoff seedings.

At least for now, those days departed with Tom Brady, and so now it’s games like the ones where a team fitting the profile of the Browns comes to Foxborough that become the biggest on the calendar, and almost tantamount to must-wins.

It’s still about the playoffs, though instead of seeding being on the line, in this case it might be more simply about inclusion. After two months, New England and Cleveland occupied the same territory on the AFC landscape, and it’s reasonable to think there’s a decent chance they’ll remain in similar neighborhoods over the final couple of months, as well.

In all likelihood, they’ll both be in the mix of teams battling for the conference’s three wild-card berths, and if the two teams were to wind up in a head-to-head tie, the winner of this matchup would earn the advantage. That’s not all, either. If the Browns and Pats were to wind up tied with a third (or even fourth) team where head-to-head results and results against common opponents weren’t applicable, the tiebreaker would slide to conference record. On that ledger, whichever team wins this game won’t only be helping its own cause, it’ll be hurting the other’s.

Cleveland will bring significant talent to Gillette Stadium, even if Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t among it, and the Browns took a big step forward last season — but they’ve been inconsistent this season, and have struggled at times. This is a game the Patriots can win. And it could well be one they can’t afford to lose.