McAdam: Tenth straight division title not just another number for Pats

FOXBOROUGH -- Over the last two decades or so, Boston teams tend to measure success by one standard and one standard only: championships. Anything less is considered a minor achievement and barely worthy of celebration.

Still, when their 24-12 victory over the Buffalo Bills delivered the Patriots another AFC East title Sunday, it was hard to dismiss it out of hand. After all, this marked the 10th-straight year the Pats won their division, establishing a record for NFL teams.

Among the four North American major sports, only baseball's Atlanta Braves -- who ripped off 11 straight National League East titles from 1995 to 2005 — can claim a longer streak.

Consistency is one thing. Sustained dominance of your rivals is something else altogether.

"I certainly don't take it for granted,'' said Tom Brady. "I mean, I know how hard it is. I just have a great deal of appreciation for my teammates and coaches that work extremely hard to put us in a position to do a great job. I think when you have a lot of perspective, like I certainly do, I realize that it's an incredibly difficult thing to do and I'm just very grateful.''

This was the Patriots' third attempt in as many weeks to clinch the division, following their crushing, late-second loss in Miami and a feeble offensive showing further marred by penalties in Pittsburgh. But even though the achievement had been delayed, it still felt special.

"This one feels a little different because we had the opportunity the past two weeks to wear these hats and these T-shirts,'' said safety Duron Harmon. "It just shows the resilience of this group, not to fold under pressure and just continue to come to work each and every day.''

A division title has come to be the bare minimum expectation for the Pats. It's not the ultimate goal -- just the first, and it's one that has become almost habitual.

"That's the program that's been established here,'' said running back Rex Burkhead. "It's very neat and humbling to be a part of. Hopefully, we can continue to reach (the rest of) our goals this year.''

For some Patriots, the experience is a familiar one. But for others, it was a novel concept. Rookie running back Sony Michel had nothing to compare it to, and neither did cornerback Jason McCourty.

"It took me 10 years to be able to say that I've won my division,'' said a beaming McCourty.

"It feels good,'' said Julian Edleman, who has experienced his share before. "Any time you go out and win the division, that's big. It's an accomplishment for this team. We've put a lot of work into this.''

As an additional benefit, minutes after the Patriots walked off the Gillette Stadium turf, the Philadelphia Eagles came from behind in the final seconds to edge the Houston Texans. That means, with a win in Week 17 against the New York Jets, the Patriots can secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC and be rewarded with a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Of course, because nothing can be assumed beforehand under Bill Belichick, the Patriots weren't about to celebrate prematurely. The Patriots may be undefeated at home this season and the Jets have won just four games, but it's bad form in Foxborough to take anything for granted.

"I think it's always a good position,'' said Michel, but at the end of the day, we still have to control what we can control. Get back to work and just focus on our next opponent.''

"You can't really control that unless you go out and get your wins,'' said Rob Gronkowski. "We're going to have another big game next week, so we've got to focus and finish out the year strong.''