After the New England Patriots fell to the Buffalo Bills in their fourth consecutive ugly loss, predictions that the AFC East title would finally be up for grabs have been proved accurate.
For the past 11 years, the Patriots have dominated the division, winning it every time and doing so in a way that left little doubt they couldn’t repeat their success the following year.
That is unless you lose your franchise quarterback whose leadership and talent were largely the reason for such consistent divisional success.
But this weekend’s football made it clear that the division no longer belongs to the Patriots.
The matchup between the Bills and Pats had significant implications for both sides.
The Bills had lost two of the last three games, albeit to strong opponents but the opponents they should be looking to beat if they expect a deep playoff run this year.
What’s more, they hadn’t beaten the Patriots at Bills Stadium since 2011 which has become something of a sore point for fans. Quarterback Josh Allen hadn’t beaten them at all in his still-young NFL career.
So it’s fair to say, with Tom Brady out of the way, fans had their eye on this match-up to start erasing some of that history.
The Patriots were struggling heading into this game, coming off three ugly losses which saw the offence crash and burn.
While fans had chosen to see the positives from Cam Newton in the early games, they had now vanished and the Patriots needed a strong outing in Buffalo to restore confidence and to hold on to any hope they could retain their AFC East title.
What happened instead was yet another ugly loss for New England and, although it was far from a dominant performance, Buffalo was able to secure the victory which puts them two games ahead in the division.
As we close in on the mid-point of the season, it certainly looks like the AFC East is Buffalo’s to lose.
While Miami may have leap-frogged New England with a win over the Los Angeles Rams this weekend, rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t exactly dazzling on his first NFL start, going 12-for-22 for 93 yards.
They have a strong defense and their special teams even helped out with a touchdown of their own but if they stick with Tua, there’s definitely work to be done to make them contenders for the divisional crown.
With the extra playoff spot open, they may even have their sights set on sliding into the post-season.
But Buffalo is 4-0 on divisional opponents so far and even though they have some tough games coming up – with the Seattle Seahawks this week and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10 – it’s going to take a lot to knock them off the top spot in the AFC East.
The other two teams – the Patriots and the Jets – will face off in Monday Night Football and with the way the Patriots have been playing, it’s difficult to say for sure whether they will be able to best the 0-8 Jets.
But it goes without saying that it’s a must-win game for New England if they have any hopes of keeping their season alive.
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