Patriots can extend win streak to 11, capture AFC East title with win over Bills

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — There was a time in the not-too-distant past when it was a yearly occurrence for the New England Patriots to win the AFC East and go to the playoffs.

But after a run of 11 straight division crowns from 2009 to 2019, the Patriots (11-2) haven’t won the division in five seasons or been to the postseason in three.

They can end both droughts with a win over the Buffalo Bills (9-4) on Sunday.

“This is a great stage that we put ourselves on,” coach Mike Vrabel said.

The last time New England finished atop the division, in 2019, was Tom Brady’s final season with the Patriots before he departed to join Tampa Bay.

Since then, Buffalo has captured the division each of the last five seasons and reached two AFC championship games. During that run, the Patriots’ lone postseason appearance in 2021 ended with a wild-card loss to a Tennessee Titans team coached by Vrabel.

If riding a 10-game win streak that includes one victory over Buffalo already this season wasn’t enough, the Patriots have added motivation this week after being installed as one-point underdogs to the visiting Bills, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

“Good,” receiver Stefon Diggs said. “This team is full of (players) that were cast off and people who was cut or didn’t necessarily get the opportunity that they wanted. However you dice it up I feel like that’s good for us being the underdog. People like us have been the underdog our whole life. We’ve got something to prove.”

Quarterback Drake Maye shares that sentiment.

“Any time you’re at home and you’re an underdog, it gives you something to play for a little bit,” he said. “Whatever the underdog and whatever they set the line at, it’s us versus them, regardless.”

As for Buffalo, which has won three of four, quarterback Josh Allen said there's no reason to overhype the game.

“We think we understand as a team what’s at stake. But I don’t think that’s going to influence anything,” Allen said. “At the end of the day that’s our main goal is to to make the playoffs. We have an opportunity to put ourselves in a better position with going out there and playing in a really hostile environment against a really good team that’s playing extremely well right now.”

Vrabel understands why there were comparisons made between Maye and Allen when Maye was drafted in 2024. Maye is 6-foot-4; Allen is 6-5. Both have strong arms and can make plays with their feet.

But Vrabel thinks there's plenty to appreciate about both as individuals. He recognizes that Allen has been playing the position with a skill and acumen that Maye is aspiring to reach.

“I think they’re both really good at what they do,” Vrabel said. “Josh probably has got a couple (pounds) on him and can kind of throw his shoulder in there probably a little bit more than I would want Drake to. But I think they’re both great competitors.”

Allen insists he prepares the same for every game, no matter the opposing quarterback. And yet some of his best performances this season have come against the NFL’s elite.

Allen has combined for nine touchdowns passing and eight rushing in victories over Kansas City (Patrick Mahomes), Baltimore (Lamar Jackson), Tampa Bay (Baker Mayfield) and Cincinnati (Joe Burrow).

“I think it’s a privilege to go against some of these guys in the NFL, and to really even just play in the league,” Allen said.

Bills coach Sean McDermott is perfectly fine with cornerback Christian Benford acknowledging he took the wrong approach by leaving his feet to intercept Burrow’s attempt to lob the ball over his head. It was the outcome, not the technique that counted after Benford returned an interception 63 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.

“When you make a play like that, yeah, he gets a pass,” McDermott said with a laugh. “We tell him, ‘Hey, listen, if you do it, you better make the play.’ And he certainly made the play.”

The fourth-year player is Buffalo’s first to score on returns in consecutive games. Benford returned a fumble 17 yards in a 26-7 win over Pittsburgh.

The Patriots played without staring left tackle Will Campbell (injured reserve, knee) and left guard Jared Wilson (ankle) in their Week 13 win over the Giants. Campbell remains on IR this week, but Wilson is on track to return.

That could be big for an offensive line that will be looking to keep Maye a little cleaner after giving up four sacks in the Patriots' Week 5 win at Buffalo.

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Orchard Park, New York, contributed to this report.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs runs during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel looks on during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen reacts during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye rolls out during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from immigration detention on a judge's order Thursday while he fights to stay in the U.S., handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney’s office confirmed he was released just before 5 p.m., the deadline the judge gave the government for an update on Abrego Garcia’s release. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, earlier told The Associated Press that Abrego Garcia plans to return to Maryland, where he has an American wife and child and where he has lived for years after originally immigrating to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.

Abrego Garcia had been held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said he’s not sure what comes next, but he’s prepared to defend his client against further deportation efforts.

“The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox, plenty of tricks up their sleeve,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said, adding he fully expects the government to again take steps to deport his client. “We’re going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial.”

The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized the judge's decision and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed during the Obama administration.

“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary.

Sandoval-Moshenberg, said the judge made it clear that the government can’t detain someone indefinitely without legal authority and that his client “has endured more than anyone should ever have to.”

Abrego Garcia, with an American wife and child, has lived in Maryland for years but entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When he was mistakenly sent there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.

A court later ordered his return to the United States. Since he cannot be removed to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His federal suit claims the Trump administration is illegally using the removal process to punish Abrego Garcia for the public embarrassment caused by his deportation.

In her order releasing Abrego Garcia, Xinis wrote that federal authorities “did not just stonewall” the court, “They affirmatively misled the tribunal.” The judge was referencing the successive list of four African countries that officials had sought to remove Abrego Garcia seemingly without commitments from those countries, as well as officials' affirmations that Costa Rica withdrew its offer to accept him, a claim later proven untrue.

“But Costa Rica had never wavered in its commitment to receive Abrego Garcia, just as Abrego Garcia never wavered in his commitment to resettle there,” the judge wrote.

Xinis also rejected the government’s argument that she lacked jurisdiction to intervene on a final removal order for Abrego Garcia, because she found no final order had been filed.

Separately, Abrego Garcia is asking an immigration court to reopen his case so he can seek asylum in the United States.

He is also criminally charged in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling. He has asked the federal court to dismiss the case, arguing the prosecution is vindictive. His defense attorney in Tennessee, Sean Hecker, declined to comment.

Loller reported from Nashville and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

FILE - Kilmar Abrego Garcia joins supporters in a protest rally outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)