The New England Patriots celebrated their AFC East title on their way back to Gillette Stadium after dominating the New York Jets on Sunday.
On the team bus ride from the airport, Mike Vrabel’s group watched the final moments of Buffalo’s 13-12 defeat. They erupted in celebration as Bills quarterback Josh Allen failed to convert the two-point conversion that would have kept Buffalo’s division title hopes alive.
Upon their arrival in Foxboro, the Patriots were greeted with their hats and T-shirts commemorating their first AFC East championship since 2019. You can watch the team’s live reaction to winning the division in the video below, via @Patriots on X:
On Monday, Vrabel spoke to reporters about celebrating the division title with his team.
“It was great. Everybody was kind of watching on their phones or following along,” the Patriots head coach said, per MassLive.com. “I think the timing of it worked out well, that the Eagles were able to win, and then we were able to kind of time it up here, and have the hats and the T-shirts here ready to go pretty quickly.”
Pats offensive tackle Vederian Lowe was all smiles as he recalled watching the end of the Buffalo game on the team bus.
“I was just on the bus relaxing. Then I look up, and I see a bunch of guys just in huddles, and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Somebody had the game on in the seat in front of me,” Lowe said.
“So, seeing that last play (Buffalo’s failed two-point conversion), seeing the ball roll and not go their way, it was a great feeling just to be surrounded by all the guys. We put in so much work this entire season … it felt really good to be division champs.”
With the AFC East title secured, the Patriots will shift their focus to the No. 1 seed in the conference. They will earn a first-round playoff bye with a Week 18 win over the Miami Dolphins and a Denver Broncos loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Next Sunday’s Pats-Dolphins matchup is set for a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium.