The Patriots’ concerns are equally dire because, face it, THEY PROBABLY WON’T EARN HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE IN THE A.F.C. PLAYOFFS. Excuse the all caps there, but that’s a huge stinkin’ deal in New England, which has hosted the conference championship game in five of the last seven years.

The Patriots have neither clinched a playoff berth nor their 97th consecutive A.F.C. East title (or is it their 98th?). As it stands now, though, they have a 67 percent chance of earning their ninth consecutive first-round bye but only a 6 percent chance of the No. 1 seed. Should they shove Pittsburgh deeper into the abyss, the Patriots get a bye in 88 percent of the Simulator’s scenarios and the top seed 15 percent of the time.

For all of New England’s dominance in recent years, the Patriots don’t make the Super Bowl when they lack home-field advantage in the playoffs. Their last three road playoff losses have come in the conference championship: 2014 and 2016 at Denver, and 2007 at Indianapolis.

A loss in Pittsburgh wouldn’t assure New England of playing on wild-card weekend — the Patriots would still have a 52 percent chance if earning a bye — but it would surely heighten the drama quotient heading into the final two weeks.

When they host Buffalo and the Jets.

Oh, well.