Move over Buffalo, there is a new division champion in town.
For the first time since 2019, the New England Patriots are the winners of the AFC East. They secured the title on Sunday thanks to a 42-10 win over
the New York Jets, teamed with the Bills losing their Week 17 game to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now at 13-3, the Patriots have a two-game advantage over the five-time defending division champion Bills. With one week remaining in the regular season, the division is once again running through Foxborough.
For the Patriots, this means reaching a goal head coach Mike Vrabel set from the moment he stepped into the team’s facility this offseason.
“Our goals will be to win the AFC East, to host home playoff games, and to compete for championships,” Vrabel said during his introductory press conference in January. “That’s what it’s going to take. And what the timeline is, just like we say with injuries, like we’re not going to put a timeline on an injury, and we’re certainly not going to put a timeline on what those will be. But that’s going to be the expectations.”
Less than a year after his arrival, the Patriots have met their head coach’s expectations. Winning the AFC East also means that they will host a playoff game at Gillette Stadium, something that has not happened since a 20-13 defeat to the Tennessee Titans — then led by Vrabel — in the wild card round of January 2020.
In total, this marks the 23rd time in franchise history that the Patriots have won their division.
