New England is Starting To Look Like a Champ Again The New England Patriots are finally starting to get healthy and they are slowly starting to look like Super Bowl Champs again. The Patriots win on Sunday was their third in four games and they can clinch the AFC East title with a win in their next game, at Buffalo, combined with a loss by Miami at San Diego. "That was a big game for us," coach Bill Belichick said Monday of Sunday's 16-3 victory. "We were able to get the lead, play from ahead, and that's always the position you want to be in at the end of the game when they have to throw." The win got the Patriots record to 7-5 with four games to play, three of them against division opponents — Miami (5-7), Buffalo (4-8) and New York (2-10). The good news for New England is that players are starting to get healthy. Kevin Faulk, David Givens, and Corey Dillon, all returned and played important parts in the win over the Jets. "I think it comes down to a function of how the whole team operates. It's not about one guy," Belichick said, "but it's good to have everybody back out there. There's no doubt about that." More good news for the Pats is the play of quarterback Tom Brady. He hasn't missed a game and had a solid outing completing 27 of 37 passes for 271 yards. He looks to continue the solid play this week against Buffalo. The Patriots haven't won more than two straight games and Sunday's win was their first by more than 10 points. Four of their losses have been by 10 points or more. "We're approaching games now just to win, just to win any way we can," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "That's the emphasis now."
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Tom Wilkinson
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