Road warrior Patriots head home eyeing AFC's top seed in regular-season finale

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are AFC East champions again and will head into the final week of the regular season with a shot at the conference’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

But Sunday’s 42-10 win over the the New York Jets was about taking a moment to savor how unstoppable the Patriots have been away from their home stadium this season.

“Like that sign out there on the highway out there said: ‘Road Work Continues,’” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel told his team in the locker room after the victory gave his team an 8-0 road record. “We have to have a mindset that there’s a lot of work left. But what we’ve done is pretty special. But we’ve got to keep thinking ahead.”

No matter what, the Patriots will host their first home playoff game since 2019. That, paired with their first division title since that same season, checks off two preseason goals Vrabel set for his first team in New England.

But having already joined the Chicago Bears to mark the 20th time in the past 23 seasons (2003-2025) that at least one team has won its division after finishing last or tied for last the previous year, chasing the top seed adds stakes to a regular-season finale matchup with a Miami Dolphins (7-9) team that has already been eliminated from playoff contention.

The scenario is simple to win the top seed: beat Miami, plus a win by the Los Angeles Chargers over the Denver Broncos (13-3).

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez believes the Patriots can find a way to carry the success they’ve had on the road this season back home.

“Unfinished business was the theme of the week. Coming in here and getting a win and going 8-0 on the road,” Gonzalez said. “To be able to go out and win multiple tough games on the road – Tampa, Baltimore – and then come in here and finish the deal, as a young team, that’s a really big thing for us. Now, we’re on to Miami.”

New England’s offense had its best start to a game this season, scoring touchdowns on each of its first six drives, including all five in the first half. The Patriots didn’t even see a third down on either of their first two scoring drives.

Special teams. A week after botching a fake punt of their own, the Patriots gave up a successful fake punt to the Jets on Sunday. New England was leading 35-3 early in the third quarter when New York punter Austin McNamara took a fourth-and-2 snap from the Jets 43 and tossed a 3-yard pass to Malachi Moore for a first down. It was all for naught, though, when the Jets tried another fake punt four plays later and were stopped.

QB Drake Maye. He has saved his best performances for the end of the season, following up his first career 300-yard passing game last week at Baltimore by throwing a career-high five passes and completing 19 of 21 passes against the Jets. The 23-year-old has 4,203 yards passing and 30 touchdown passes in 2025, making him the sixth player under 24 with at least 4,000 yards passing and 30 touchdown passes in a season. The others are: Blake Bortles (2015 with Jacksonville), Justin Herbert (2020 and 2021 with the Los Angeles Chargers), Patrick Mahomes (2018 with Kansas City), Dan Marino (1984 with Miami) and Matthew Stafford (2009 with Detroit).

K Andy Borregales. He missed a 41-yard field goal attempt off the right upright in the third quarter, ending the Patriots’ streak of six straight scoring drives to open the game.

Fullback Jack Westover injured an ankle in the fourth quarter. ... Wide receiver Mack Hollins was placed on injured reserve on Saturday with an abdomen injury. Hollins currently ranks third on the team with 46 receptions for 550 yards.

3 — Maye joined Lynn Dickey (Dec. 13, 1981, with Green Bay) and Frank Ryan (Dec. 12, 1964, with Cleveland) as the only players with five touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 90-or-higher in a single game.

The Patriots will be looking for their first sweep of the Dolphins since the 2016 season.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel talks during a news conference after is team defeated the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

New England Patriots defensive tackle Cory Durden reacts during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) celebrates after a touchdown against the New York Jets with teammate Demario Douglas (3) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) passes against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

New England Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins (21) celebrates an interception against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)

A strengthening bomb cyclone barreled across the northern U.S. on Monday, unleashing severe winter weather in the Midwest as it took aim at the East Coast.

The storm brought blizzard conditions, treacherous travel and power outages to parts of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday as sharply colder air, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain swept through.

Forecasters said the storm intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops. The sharp cold front left parts of the central U.S. waking up Monday to temperatures as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) colder than the day before.

All that wind and snow created “a pretty significant system for even this part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. Dangerous wind chills plunged as low as minus 30 F (minus 34 C) across parts of North Dakota and Minnesota.

The National Weather Service had warned of whiteout conditions beginning Sunday that could make travel impossible in some places.

In Iowa, blizzard conditions eased by Monday morning but high winds were still blowing fallen snow across roadways, keeping more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Interstate 35 closed. State troopers reported dozens of crashes during the storm, including one that killed a person.

Forecasters expect the storm to intensify, fueled by a sharp clash between frigid Canadian air and lingering warmth across the southern United States.

Nationwide, about 350,000 customers were without power Monday afternoon, more than a third of them in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us. Airports reported over 6,000 flight delays and around 775 cancellations within the United States.

Snow piled up quickly in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where as much as 2 feet (0.6 meters) fell in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Ryan Metzger said additional snow was expected in the coming days, although totals would be far lighter.

Waves on Lake Superior were expected to reach 20 feet (6 meters) Monday, sending all but one cargo ship into harbors for shelter, according to MarineTraffic.com. Weather forecasting on the lakes has improved greatly since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975 after waves were predicted at up to 16 feet (5 meters).

The fierce winds on Lake Erie sent water surging toward the basin’s eastern end near Buffalo, New York, while lowering water on the western side in Michigan to expose normally submerged lakebed — even the wreck of a car and a snowmobile.

The National Weather Service said lake levels had risen to just below 8 feet (2.4 meters), with the potential to reach 9 feet (2.7 meters) or more by late Monday, due to the strong southwest wind flow, and predicted “significant lakeshore flooding” along the Lake Erie shoreline of Erie and Chautauqua counties as well as along the upper Niagara River.

Rain and a wintry mix fell farther east across parts of the Northeast. Freezing rain was reported in northern New York, with the threat extending into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Forecasters warned the ice and wind could strain power lines and trees. More than 57,000 power outages were reported across upstate New York on Monday afternoon, utility officials said. Heavy lake-effect snow and possible whiteouts were forecast Tuesday for the northwestern part of the state, the National Weather Service said.

On the West Coast, the National Weather Service warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds were expected in parts of Southern California through Tuesday, raising concerns about downed trees in areas where soils have been saturated by recent storms. Two more storms were forecast later this week, with rain on New Year’s Day potentially soaking the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time in about two decades.

A weekend snowstorm hit Alaska’s northern panhandle with 15 to 40 inches (38 to 102 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service, keeping the region under a winter storm warning Monday as Juneau braced for up to 9 more inches (23 centimeters) and possible freezing rain. City facilities were closed and road crews piled snow into towering berms, while communities farther south faced flood watches from snowmelt and heavy rain.

And in central Illinois, an EF1 tornado with peak winds of 98 mph (158 kph) damaged buildings and snapped power poles on Sunday.

Associated Press writers Julie Walker in New York; Corey Williams in Detroit; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed.

A car drives down a snowy main street in downtown Juneau, Alaska, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Neil Wakeman, a Luna Pier city council member, holds up a steering wheel as he and friends look over a car that is normally submerged in roughly eight feet of water, about 100 yards off the beach in Luna Pier, Mich., Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (Andy Morrison/Detroit News via AP)

Chase Caruso, center, and his father, Peter Caruso, spread sand on their icy driveway during a freezing rainstorm, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Harrison, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Snow is cleared from a parking lot in Grandville, Mich. on Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (Joel Bissell /MLive.com via AP)

A woman walks protected under an umbrella during a sleet and freezing rain storm, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Jack, described as a mixed-breed mutt by his owner Shelley, keeps in stride on their afternoon walk in sleet and freezing rain, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - An American Airlines plane arrives at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

People cross 7th street in the heavy snow on Sunday Dec. 28, 2025 in downtown Minneapolis. (Jerry Holt /Star Tribune via AP)

Devon Jordan, of Brainerd , helps a person start their car durning heavy snow fall on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 in downtown Minneapolis. (Jerry Holt /Star Tribune via AP)

Heavy snow falls along Nicollet Mall Sunday Dec.28, 2025 in Minneapolis. (Jerry Holt /Star Tribune via AP)