The New England Patriots will play in the AFC Championship Game again, which is a statement that feels so ordinary and so plain now. Their greatest accomplishment in an era led by head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady is that they've made continued dominance seem routine.
We've reached the point where an AFC title game without the Patriots would feel utterly surreal. After pancaking the Tennessee Titans 35-14 on Saturday, the Patriots will appear in their seventh consecutive conference championship.
In a league where the margin for error is minuscule, the Patriots have, at worst, given themselves a shot at another conference title in seven straight years.