A win is a win, particularly in the wind.
It may not have been pretty, but Bill Belichick's boys will take it. Based on Sunday's NFL results, the Patriots and their convoy of buses rolled into Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. Monday evening clinging tenuously to the No. 1 playoff seed in the American Football Conference. All four AFC division leaders had 8-4 records, but with its 6-1 conference record as the tiebreaker, New England earned the top honors, pending the outcome of the game with Buffalo.
To give themselves some breathing room at the top, the Patriots would have to overcome not only the potent Buffalo Bills, but also the punishing weather conditions, eerily reminiscent of a visit to this stadium 13 years ago.