Over the last five years, at this point in the season, the AFC East had been long locked up by the Bills, primarily due to the complete lack of competition in the division after Tom Brady's departure. The Patriots are a team that wanted to change that this year and did the work to make it happen, leading them to a 13-3 record after a blowout win over the Jets on Sunday.
That kept them in line to win the division title for the first time since 2019, only waiting on how the Bills fared against the Eagles in the late window.