Patriots’ Path To First In AFC East Opens After Dramatic Bills Loss

The AFC East got a lot more interesting after Week 10. There was much discussion heading into Sunday regarding the status of Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback did get the start, but Buffalo’s matchup against the Vikings was by no means a shoo-in. Minnesota came back down 27-10 but fell short at the Buffalo-1 after […]

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The AFC East got a lot more interesting after Week 10.

There was much discussion heading into Sunday regarding the status of Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback did get the start, but Buffalo’s matchup against the Vikings was by no means a shoo-in.

Minnesota came back down 27-10 but fell short at the Buffalo-1 after a failed quarterback sneak from Kirk Cousins. The game appeared to be over, until Allen mishandled the snap, and the Vikings defense pounced on the ball for a touchdown. The Bills offense wouldn’t go down quietly as they marched down to allow Tyler Bass to kick the game-tying field goal. But the magic would stop there as Allen threw an interception to allow the Vikings to squeak by with a three-point win.

The Dolphins handled the Cleveland Browns, and Miami holds control over the AFC East at 7-3 at Week 10. The New York Jets and The New England Patriots were on their bye week, and the two teams will face off in Week 11, which will make the matchup even more interesting.

With both teams at 6-3, the Jets have the tiebreaker advantage over the Bills since they beat Buffalo in Week 9. However, the Patriots, at 5-4, aren’t far back, sitting only one loss behind New York and the Bills.

New England does have a tough road ahead — the Patriots still have two games against Buffalo in the second half of the season — but it can get off to a good start by sweeping its season matchup against the Jets in Week 11. The Vikings have a dominant record at 8-2, but Cousins struggles against pressure — something the Patriots defense can deliver plenty of behind the play of Matthew Judon.

If the Patriots can fix their offensive struggles, specifically if Mac Jones can improve his play, New England has a realistic path to at best first in the division or at worst a wild card berth.

The AFC was seen as the best conference, but few doubted it would be the AFC East would turn out to be the best division.

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