DHL Dan CCLXXX - Back To The Top?

Sorry, Buffalo - Shank thinks you were just filling in for the Patriots for the past few years:

Patriots can win the AFC East title against the team that’s been ‘filling in,’ the Bills, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for Patriots-Bills kickoff . . .

⋅ They are the Mike Vrabel-Drake Maye Patriots now, and Sunday at Gillette Stadium they have a chance to clinch their first AFC East championship.

Not so long ago — when we watched the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady Patriots, winning the division was something that happened here annually — like February Fenway Truck Day, the Pops on the Fourth, and Allston Christmas on Labor Day Weekend. From 2001-19, the Patriots won the AFC East 17 times in 19 seasons.

That all ended when Brady left. Belichick lost his way, and the Patriots wandered aimlessly across the NFL landscape. Five long years came and went with no division titles and no playoff victories.

Now it is the holiday season and we have this unexpected gift of the 2025 Patriots. A franchise that won four games in each of the last two seasons comes into this weekend with the best record in the NFL (tied with the Broncos), 10 straight victories, and a chance to win the AFC East Sunday.