Patriots Clinch AFC East With Victory Over The Bills

In a bitter cold, yet heated AFC East matchup in Foxboro, the New England Patriots (12-3) defeated the Buffalo Bills (10-5) 24-17. With the Week 16 win, the Patriots clinched the AFC East for the 11th consecutive year.

A close game throughout saw a momentum shift after a Bills’ fourth-and-1 punt. With the Bills up 17-16, the Patriots marched down in the remaining minutes for a touchdown and a two point conversion, providing the winning margin.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had one of those games, completing 26 of 33 passes for 271 yards, with no interceptions and no sacks.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen was no dud, finishing the game 13 of 26 for 208 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Brady said of the game, “I don’t think too many of us thought about the season or much. It was really just one game, and what we needed to do to try to move the ball and score points against a pretty good team.”

He added, “I think it was more balanced than we’ve been, and we ran the ball good and effectively against a really good defense. So, that’s always good. I think one game doesn’t always necessarily lead to the next, so I think you just have to keep building week-to-week on some things that maybe we did good that worked out, and the things that didn’t, you kind of move on from them.”

The Patriots put themselves in a good spot as they still hope for a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The Bills will likely face the Houston Texans in the first-round of the playoffs.