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It seemed like a foregone conclusion halfway through the season that the New England Patriots would win the AFC East. After Sunday's games, it appears that they will, in fact, get the job done, but it certainly hasn't been easy. They saw their lead shrink to one game over both the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets two weeks ago, and both teams kept pace with the Patriots last week. Sunday, though, the Patriots were able to win an ugly game in Buffalo while watching the Jets and Dolphins lose heartbreakers. That means that the Patriots are now 9-5 and both the Jets and Dolphins are 7-7 with two games to play -- meaning New England has basically sealed this thing, while the Jets and Dolphins are now locked up with the Jaguars, Titans and Texans at 7-7. Those teams will all likely be trailing the Baltimore Ravens by one game after the late games end.
The Patriots' victory over the Bills was a bit ugly. Tom Brady connected on just 11 of his 23 pass attempts. He threw for only 115 yards, which was, for the second straight week, his worst output of the season. In fact, it was his lowest output in a full game since December 2006.
The Patriots survived 17-10, however, on the strength of good defense and their running game. Laurence Maroney carried the ball 23 times for 81 yards and a score. The defense racked up six sacks and picked off Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick once. They held the Bills to just 241 yards of total offense and an abysmal 2-for-12 on third-down conversions.
In the end, the only thing that matters is that they got the win.
And that's what the Jets and Dolphins can't say.
The Jets outgained the Falcons by a good amount and played tough, hard-hitting defense all game. They forced Atlanta to punt on eight of their first nine possessions, but the Jets only managed a 65-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards themselves. When Matt Ryan took the Falcons 73 yards on 11 plays for a Tony Gonzalez touchdown late, it was all that was needed to win the game, as Atlanta took it 10-7.
The Dolphins, meanwhile got 349 passing yards from Chad Henne and held sensational Titans' running back Chris Johnson to less than four yards a carry, but turned the ball over four times. Allowing three touchdown passes to Vince Young didn't help, either, and a Rob Bironas field goal in overtime gave the Titans a 27-24 win.
The Patriots will now look to put the division away by beating either Jacksonville or Houston in the next two weeks. Ironically, if they win both, it helps the Dolphins and Jets in the wild-card race. The Dolphins have Houston in Week 16 and close with the Steelers (who will join the 7-7 party if they hold on against the Packers at home). The Jets will play in Indianapolis and then host the Bengals.
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