Patriots On Track to Clinch 7th Consecutive AFC East Title
Patriots On Track to Clinch 7th Consecutive AFC East Title

The New England Patriots have reached 10-0 for the second time in franchise history and first time since 2007, when they finished the regular season undefeated and advanced to Super Bowl XLII.

"It feels good to win," said quarterback TOM BRADY after the Patriots' 20-13 win against the Bills on Monday Night Football. "It's obviously hard to get to this point (10-0). So, we'll just keep fighting."

The Patriots are the fourth defending Super Bowl champion to start a season 10-0, joining Green Bay (13-0 in 2011), Denver (13-0 in 1998) and San Francisco (10-0 in 1990).

This weekend, New England can clinch its seventh consecutive division title, which would tie the 1973-79 Los Angeles Rams for the longest streak in NFL history. The Patriots will travel to Denver to face the Broncos in a battle of first-place teams in primetime on Sunday Night Football (8:30 PM ET, NBC).

The Patriots, who also won five consecutive division titles from 2003-2007, are the only team in NFL history to win 11 division championships in a 12-year span.

The NFL teams with the most consecutive division titles:

 

Team Seasons Streak
*Active streak; can clinch AFC East in Week 12 (Source: NFL)
Los Angeles Rams1973-797
New England Patriots*2009-146
Cleveland Browns1950-556
Dallas Cowboys1966-716
Minnesota Vikings1973-786
Pittsburgh Steelers1974-796

 

Since the NFL instituted the 16-game schedule in 1978, five teams have clinched a division a title after 11 games. Four of those five teams advanced to the Super Bowl, including the 1985 Chicago Bears, who finished the season 15-1 en route to a Super Bowl XX victory.

The teams to clinch a division title after 11 games since 1978:

 

Team Seasons Record Final Result
*Active streak; can clinch AFC East in Week 12 (Source: NFL)
Chicago Bears198511-015-1Won Super Bowl XX
San Francisco 49ers199710-113-3Advanced to NFC Championship
Philadelphia Eagles200410-113-3Advanced to Super Bowl XXXIX
New England Patriots200711-016-0Advanced to Super Bowl XLII
Indianapolis Colts200911-014-2Advanced to Super Bowl XLIV

 

Dating back to the 2014 postseason, the Patriots have won 13 consecutive games, the third-longest winning streak in franchise annals.

New England leads the NFL in scoring defense (18.2 points per game) and ranks first in the AFC in scoring offense (32.3 points per game). The Patriots aim to become the first NFL team to lead a conference in both scoring offense and defense in the same season since the 2006 Chicago Bears.

 

New England Patriots (10-0) at Denver Broncos (8-2)
(Sunday, NBC, 8:30 PM ET)

On Sunday night, New England and Denver -- AFC rivals and division leaders -- meet in primetime.

The Patriots are 10-0 for the second time in franchise history (2007). On Monday night, New England defeated Buffalo 20-13 as running back JAMES WHITE rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass from quarterback TOM BRADY. Brady reached 25 touchdown passes in a season for the 11th time, tied with BRETT FAVRE for the second-most seasons in NFL history (PEYTON MANNING, 16).

The Broncos are 8-2 and lead the AFC West. Last week in Chicago, quarterback BROCK OSWEILER completed 20 of 27 passes (74.1 percent) for 250 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 127.1 passer rating in the Broncos' 17-15 win over the Bears. Osweiler, who turned 25 years old on Sunday, is the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era to make his first career start and win on his birthday.

"Winning tastes great," says Denver linebacker VON MILLER. "Nothing tastes like it. It was a great win."

 

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