It was an upbeat Patriots locker room following the win over the Bills Saturday that clinched the AFC East for the 11th straight season.
When Bill Belichick addressed the team, the theme was the playoffs have already begun for them and that was the first playoff game.
"That's the way to compete fellas," he said, via Patriots.com. "That is the way to compete. It wasn't perfect, but you guys competed your ass off and that was the difference. Look, this is very simple now: This was a playoff game, Miami is a playoff game. If we beat Miami, then we get a bye. If we don't, then we'll be playing the next week. So it's a playoff game. We've got to be ready to go here. We need our best week. Keep building on what we've been building on here. Keep this thing rolling.
"Fellas, that was a damn good job today, but this is playoff … I saw some guys step up today, we need everybody. Let's enjoy this one. Let's relax a little bit here and come back ready to go. This is a big week and we're in the playoffs. We're in the playoffs now. AFC East champs, congratulations."
If the Patriots beat Miami next Sunday, they will clinch the No. 2 seed and earn a first-round bye.
How do we feel about being 2019 AFC East CHAMPS?Awww yeah. pic.twitter.com/U90CbcgMRy
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 23, 2019
