The New England Patriots have clinched the AFC East division title for the first time since the Tom Brady era, thanks to the Buffalo Bills’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Earlier in the day, the Patriots dominated the New York Jets with a decisive 42-10 victory at MetLife Stadium, securing their part of the equation.
The Patriots’ return to the top was confirmed when Buffalo fell short against Philadelphia in a closely contested match, marking New England’s first division title since 2019.
In the intervening years, the Bills had claimed the division honors for five consecutive seasons, while the Patriots struggled, ending the last two years with disappointing 4-13 records.
This season has seen a turnaround for New England, with rookie quarterback Drake Maye and head coach Mike Vrabel steering the team back to success.
Drake Maye led the Patriots to a stunning victory over the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon
The victory – followed by the Bills’ loss – sealed the Pats’ first division title since the Brady era
In Sunday’s game, Maye delivered an impressive performance, throwing a career-high five touchdown passes. His efforts allowed him to rest after the third quarter as the Patriots scored touchdowns on their first six possessions.
‘It comes down to unfinished business,’ Maye said. ‘You want to go 8-0 on the road. That would be something we thought would be pretty cool. In this league, it’s hard to win on the road and we accomplished that today.’
‘Winning the division, we’ve got to win out to win the division,’ Maye added. ‘That was our mindset. If that means the No. 1 seed is at play, that’s what we’re trying to do.’
Maye was 19 of 21 for 256 yards and a 157.0 quarterback rating with TD tosses to Rhamondre Stevenson – who also had a touchdown run – Austin Hooper, Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry and Efton Chism III before being lifted by coach Vrabel for Joshua Dobbs with 5:31 left in the third quarter.
Maye joined Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (twice) as the only New England quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards passing in a season.
‘They don’t give me a vote,’ Vrabel said of the league MVP buzz around Maye, ‘but there is nobody else we want as our quarterback.’
Dobbs’ first drive ended the Patriots’ touchdown run, with New England settling for a field goal on its seventh possession – but Andy Borregales clanked the 41-yard attempt off the right upright.
It didn’t matter much by then, though, as the Patriots cruised to their eighth 13-win season in team history.
Buffalo lost to Philadelphia to ensure their five-year AFC East reign came to a brutal end
Head coach Mike Vrabel has turned the Patriots around, after a woeful 4-13 season in 2024
In a road game that looked and sounded more like a Patriots home game with all the red, white and blue-clad fans who made the trek down to MetLife Stadium, New England finished with no regular-season road losses for the third time in franchise history. Only San Francisco (1984, 1989 and 1990) has also gone undefeated on the road in three seasons since 1970.
‘Coming in here and going 8-0 on the road, that´s a big thing for us as a young team,’ cornerback Christian Gonzalez said.
Meanwhile, it was another embarrassing showing in the home finale for the lowly Jets (3-13), who have lost four in a row and have two straight seasons with multiple losing streaks of at least four games. New York became the fifth team in NFL history to lose four straight by 23 or more points in one season, and the first since the 1972 Patriots.
‘Highly, highly disappointed in the way that we came out,’ coach Aaron Glenn said. ‘Today was probably the one time I feel like our effort wasn´t as good as I want it to be.’
