The New England Patriots took care of business against the New York Jets in Week 17, dominating their division rivals in a 42-10 blowout. The lopsided victory was their 13th of the year, the most in a single season for the team since 2017.

More importantly, though, it also has an impact on their standing in the AFC East and the AFC as a whole. With that said, let’s find out what it means for Mike Vrabel’s team.

The Patriots cruising to an easy victory meant that all eyes were on the Bills. If they came up short in their 4:25 p.m. ET game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the AFC East crown would officially return to Foxborough for the first time since 2019.

That is precisely what happened. Buffalo suffered a 13-12 defeat at home and now is two full games behind New England with only one week left in the regular season. As a consequence, and for the first time since 2019, the Patriots are champions of the AFC East.

On the bubble: 9. Baltimore Ravens (8-8)

Eliminated: 8. Indianapolis Colts (8-8), 10. Miami Dolphins (7-9), 11. Cincinnati Bengals (6-10), 11. Kansas City Chiefs (6-10), 13. Cleveland Browns (4-12), 14. Tennessee Titans (3-13), 15. New York Jets (3-13). 16. Las Vegas Raiders (2-14)

The Patriots improving to 13-3 keeps the chance of the first-round playoff bye alive. For that to happen, though, they would need the Broncos to lose their regular season finale against the Chargers next week. Unfortunately from a New England perspective, L.A. has relatively little to play for: with their 20-16 loss to the Texans on Saturday, the Chargers are no longer in competition for the AFC West title. They could slightly improve their spot in the playoff picture and play spoilers to a division rival, but the stakes are not as high as they could have been.

Meanwhile, the Bills’ loss to the Eagles drops them all the way down to the seventh seed in the conference. If the playoffs were to begin tomorrow, this would mean Buffalo playing New England in the wild card round.

Elsewhere in the division, the race for the AFC North title continues. With the Steelers losing to the Browns 13-6 on Sunday, the Ravens still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed next week. It’s win-and-you’re-in time in that division.