Why Mike Vrabel Set Patriots Goal Of Winning AFC East

Mike Vrabel set a lofty goal during training camp in his first year as the head coach of the New England Patriots.

The Patriots failed to make the playoffs in three straight seasons, but despite that, Vrabel had plenty of confidence in the team. Vrabel told the team the expectation was to win the AFC East, and with the Patriots closing in on that, he explained why he set a lofty goal.

“I think just to make sure that everybody understood what the expectations were,” Vrabel said on Wednesday. “That there’s a lot of ways to win football games in this league with a lot of different players, a lot of different lineups, a lot of different schemes, and however we need to do to win football games, but that was going to be the goal.

“Making sure that they all understood that, making sure that they knew that this was the priority and that’s what we’ve tried to do. Now, we haven’t done it. We still have opportunities to do it, but just making sure everybody understood what the expectations were.”

The Patriots started the year off 1-2, but then won 10 straight games and are atop the AFC East.

New England can clinch the AFC East by winning its final two games against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The Patriots can also clinch the AFC East on Sunday if the Buffalo Bills lose to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Patriots are on the road to play the Jets on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.