FOXBORO — The Patriots acquired their AFC East champions hats and T-shirts on Sunday, nevertheless it needed to wait till they received off the bus again from the airport to Gillette Stadium.
Because the Patriots beat the Jets on Sunday, they wanted the Payments to lose to the Eagles to be crowned divisional champs. Gamers have been crowded round gadgets on the bus experience again to the stadium after they acquired the excellent news.
“It was nice,” head coach Mike Vrabel stated. “Everyone was form of watching on their telephones or following alongside. I feel the timing of it labored out properly, that the Eagles have been in a position to win, after which we have been in a position to form of time it up right here, and have the hats and the T-shirts right here able to go fairly shortly. And so, I respect that, and Stick [equipment manager Preston Rogers]’s crew having that able to go. Gamers loved it. Workers loved it. I believed it was good timing, after which all people form of went on their approach.”
The second we turned division champs 👏 pic.twitter.com/ImKStCRsjH
— z – New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 29, 2025
The Payments scored a landing late in opposition to the Eagles to chop Philadelphia’s result in 13-12. Relatively than tie the sport with an additional level to enter additional time, they tried a failed two-point conversion, when quarterback Josh Allen’s go to Khalil Shakir sailed by the top zone.
The Patriots posed for a bunch image in a storage at Gillette Stadium upon exiting the buses.
“Seeing the ball roll and never go their approach, it was an amazing feeling simply to be surrounded by all the blokes,” left deal with Vederian Lowe stated. “We put in a lot work this complete season, from Day 1 OTAs to the sport yesterday. We nonetheless received loads to do, nevertheless it felt actually good to be division champs.”
Outdoors linebacker Ok’Lavon Chaisson joked that it was his first time rooting for the Eagles.
“Excited for that, excited for the chance,” Chaisson stated. “And the power was fairly excessive, for positive.”
It’s the Patriots’ first AFC East title since 2019, when Tom Brady was nonetheless quarterback and Vrabel was head coach of the Titans. No gamers stay from that yr’s group.
“It was about quarter-hour to get an image, the shirt’s handed out, the hat’s handed out and the photographs organized, however aside from that, again to work, targeted on the Dolphins, targeted on who we might have and a plan that we’ll need to attempt to put collectively to enhance,” Vrabel stated.
The Patriots can nonetheless earn the No. 1 seed within the AFC with a win over the 7-9 Dolphins and a Broncos loss to the 11-5 Chargers. The Broncos and Patriots are each 13-3, however the Broncos get the tiebreaker as a result of they’ve a greater report in opposition to widespread opponents.
