New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is used to winning divisions.
After the Patriots' win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, New England clinched its 10th consecutive AFC East division title and its 15th division crown in the last 16 years.
However, just because it's a regular occurrence for the Pats does not mean Belichick doesn't revel in the accomplishment.
“Always a great feeling to win the division.” pic.twitter.com/KuCed4UAmP
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 23, 2018
We take for granted just how dominant the Patriots have been over the better part of the last two decades. We have become accustomed to seeing them win divisions and make the playoffs every year that we just expect it, but we don't realize just how difficult it is to do this year in and year out.
Sure, the AFC East may not be the best division, as the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills haven't accomplished much of anything over the last 20 years, but division titles are still division titles regardless of your rivals.
With the win over the Bills, the Pats improved to 10-5 on the year and are actually now in second place in the AFC after the Houston Texans' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
That means that all the Patriots need to do is beat the New York Jets next weekend, and they will nail down yet another first-round bye.
Think about that for a second: in spite of all of the talk of New England's struggles these past couple of weeks, the Pats will still likely end up with a bye in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
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