Patriots Clinch AFC East: Latest Comments and Reaction

The New England Patriots are the kings of the AFC East again.

Thanks to the Miami Dolphins' 31-24 loss to the New York Giants on Monday night, the defending Super Bowl champions clinched their division for the seventh straight year and will have a chance to defend their championship in the postseason.

The Dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff contention, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Tom Brady has been the starting quarterback for the Patriots since winning Super Bowl XXXVI in 2001. Since that year, the Patriots have won the AFC East 13 times in 15 seasons. The two exceptions came in 2002—when the Patriots went 9-7 and finished in second place in the division—and 2008—when the team went 11-5 behind backup Matt Cassel following Brady's season-ending knee injury but failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Considering the Patriots couldn't clinch the division Sunday and didn't play Monday, Greg Bedard of Sports Illustrated thought of a good solution to get every Pats player some celebratory gear:

New England has also had to overcome plenty of injuries this year, with playmakers such as Julian Edelman (foot), Rob Gronkowski (knee) and Nate Solder (arm) banged up. The team's success is a testament to how good Brady has been this season as well as the mastermind that is head coach Bill Belichick.

Trey Wingo of ESPN believes that these Patriots are not human:

Thanks to losses by the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the Patriots also reclaimed the No. 1 seed in the AFC with their 27-6 win over the Houston Texans. The Broncos got the better of New England at Mile High Stadium on Nov. 29, so if New England can clinch home-field advantage, that will bode well come January.