Patriots look to clinch AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed after being crowned division champs

FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots fans have plenty to celebrate this Monday after New England clinched the AFC East title following a blowout win over the New York Jets and a nail-biting Bills loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Buffalo.

The moment the Patriots learned they had secured the division came as the team pulled into Gillette Stadium after their victory in New Jersey. The Bills’ one-point, 13-12 loss sealed the deal for New England.

Second-year quarterback Drake Maye delivered a career performance, throwing five touchdown passes before exiting in the third quarter for a well-deserved rest with his team up 42-3.

The win helped the Patriots finish the regular season undefeated on the road.

“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.”

In victory, 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,” Head coach Mike Vrabel said of the league MVP buzz around Maye. “But there is nobody else we want as our quarterback.”

Vrabel praised the team’s effort but emphasized the need for continued improvement.

“We’re really focused on trying to improve late in the year,” Vrabel said. “I’m just happy that everyone was able to play. We got a lot of really good efforts early on and complementary football.”

Vrabel added that preparation remains key as his team looks to claim the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff bracket.

“From the get-go, we’ve tried to focus on having everybody that’s here prepare as a starter,” Vrabel said.

The Patriots will host the Miami Dolphins Sunday, Jan. 4, at 4:25 p.m. Boston 25 will air the game.

While the Patriots have already locked up their first division title since 2019, there is still much left to play for. New England needs a Week 18 win and a Denver Broncos loss to get the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs.

Both Denver and New England are 13-3, but because of their better record versus shared opponents—most notably the Las Vegas Raiders, who defeated the Patriots early in the season—the Broncos control their own fate and have a tiebreaker over the Patriots.

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