NFL picks and predictions, Eagles vs. Patriots 2015: No one is picking Philadelphia to upset New England

The New England Patriots' pursuit of perfection is over following their overtime loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday night. Instead of chasing history, the focus shifts to the more immediate concerns of patching up their injury-depleted roster, winning a seventh straight AFC title and securing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

They can achieve the second of those objectives with a win on Sunday over the Philadelphia Eagles, combined with a Jets loss to the Giants. If they clinch, they'd match the 1973-79 Rams for the longest divisional championship streak since the 1970 merger. New England remains in the driver's seat for the top playoff seed, too, but their margin for error got thinner because Denver now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker and is just one game behind in the standings.

While the Patriots are in the No. 1 position in the AFC from a playoff perspective, their current roster barely resembles that of the conference's best team. When Tom Brady was trying to rally the team in the fourth quarter, he was without his top four receiving options (Dion Lewis, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski) and his starting left tackle (Nate Solder). On the other side of the ball, the team was also missing two of its defensive anchors, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins.

The lack of offensive weapons surrounding Brady might not matter much against an Eagles defense that has been shredded the past two weeks. They've allowed 45 points in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history, and are just the second team since the merger to give up five-plus passing touchdowns in consecutive games. Their last two losses have come by 28 and 30 points, respectively, against the sub-.500 Buccaneers and Lions.