Dolphins' Loss Clinches AFC East Title for Patriots

The New England Patriots (11-2) won their seventh consecutive AFC East title, thanks to the Miami Dolphins' 31-24 loss to the New York Giants on Monday night. 

Since Tom Brady became the starter in 2001 under head coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots have captured 13 division titles in a 15-year span. The two exceptions came in 2002—when the defending champions went 9-7 and missed the playoffs—and 2008—the season Brady suffered a season-ending ACL tear. The Patriots finished 11-5 behind backup Matt Cassel, but failed to qualify for the postseason.

The dark days of the franchise are long over for the Patriots, who won just five division championships in the team's first 51 seasons (1960-2000). 

The NFL's most prolific franchise of the 21st century, the Patriots have dominated division opponents—posting a 71-19 record in the regular-season against AFC East teams since the start of the 2001 season.

Brady was proud to learn that his team had been crowned the AFC East champions yet again.

"I didn't know until this morning," Brady said. "That's pretty cool. It is a great achievement for our team. I didn't know that was possible last night or else I probably would have stayed up and watched a little bit longer. Obviously there was some tie-breaker that we came up with or something. That's great. That's what you start with, winning your division. We talk about that every year. We've done a good job in our division thus far, being 4-0. We'll have a chance the last two weeks of the year to finish strong, after this Titan game."