Going into the 2025 season, almost no one expected the Buffalo Bills to lose the AFC East especially to the New England Patriots. Even though Mike Vrabel was a great hire for the Patriots, it was still his first year as the head coach in New England and Drake Maye was just coming off his rookie season.
However, the Patriots shocked a lot of people by winning the division from the Bills (who arguably lost it themselves). In addition, the Patriots also made a run towards the Super Bowl, but ran into a hard wall that is known as the Seattle Seahawks. People will say the Patriots had an easy path to the Super Bowl, but they still had to play Buffalo who is considered one of the best teams in the NFL.
New England beat Buffalo in Orchard Park, and had it not been for them doing a near all-time collapse in Week 15, the Patriots would have swept the Bills.
It was the first time since 2020 where the Bills didn’t win the AFC East. It took New England until Week 17 to win the division but not because of them winning, but because of the Bills losing to the Eagles that week. That loss put the Bills as a wild card team and they were eventually bounced out of the divisional round.
While it may seem like the Patriots could very well be in control of the AFC East, Bills fans are hoping that Joe Brady can have the same effect that Vrabel had in his first year in New England. Former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is a believer that the Bills will take back the AFC East from the Patriots, which he stated on his podcast, “Fitz & Whit” with Andrew Whitworth.
"The Bills are going after [the Patriots] next year. The Bills are gonna retake the division Whit. I have a strong feeling about that."
— Fitz & Whit (@fitzandwhit) February 10, 2026
Ryan Fitzpatrick has a message for Bills Mafia after Super Bowl LX 👀@robinhoodapp pic.twitter.com/3z99hH5v4q
Ryan Fitzpatrick says exactly what Bills fans needed to hear after Patriots' embarrassing Super Bowl loss
"The Bills are going after [the Patriots] next year. The Bills are gonna retake the division Whit. I have a strong feeling about that." said Fitzpatrick. It's no secret that Fitzpatrick is beloved in Buffalo and him saying this just earned him some more respect from Bills Mafia.
The Bills faced a great amount of ups and downs, which included key injuries on the defense. In addition, they had arguably the worst wide receiver room in the NFL, yet Josh Allen still found a way to carry the team until he couldn’t anymore.
The Patriots had their fun this past season, and had the chance to watch the Bills beat themselves and lose the division. Now with Joe Brady running the show and Brandon Beane needing to deliver a strong offseason, the Bills should very well take back the division and make a Super Bowl run themselves.