FOXBOROUGH http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquise-blair-jersey , MASS. (AP) — dominance in the NFL for nearly two decades.Their mastery of the AFC East with coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady leading the way — 10 straight titles and 16 in 19 seasons since 2000 — has proven to be somewhat of a double-edged sword for its division opponents.It’s the curse that haunts them and the engine that drives them.“New England is the team that teams want to be,” 22-year-old Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen said after Sunday’s 24-12 loss in Foxborough gave New England its latest division crown.Allen is new to the scene, but he has already had a taste of the Patriots dynasty that has beleaguered the Bills.And, the New York Jets.And, the Miami Dolphins.In all, the Patriots have won the division 21 times. The Dolphins were the last non-New England team to win the AFC East in 2008 — the same season Brady missed all but one game after tearing knee ligaments in the opener.The last of the Jets’ four division wins came in 2002.Buffalo’s most recent of its 10 division titles came in 1995. The Bills were also the last AFC East team to string together consecutive division championships, doing so in four straight seasons from 1988 to 1991.Since the AFC East’s inception in 1960, no team has done what New England has during its recent run. The Dolphins came closest, winning five of their 14 titles consecutively from 1981-85 and 10 in 15 years.“I think every team wants to (emulate them),” Allen said. “Obviously T.J. Hockenson Jersey , they’ve got one of the greatest coaches to ever coach and one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game of football. … So, obviously, that’s what we want to be.”Just about the only thing working against the Patriots is time.Brady is now 41 years old and in his 19th season. Belichick, 66, is four decades into an NFL coaching career during which he has won seven Super Bowls, five as a head coach in New England.Yet the Patriots still find themselves a Week 17 win against the Jets away from clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs, ensuring them an all-important extra week of rest and at least one more game in Foxborough.“We still have one hugely important game left,” Brady said. “We have to finish strong.”Unlike years past, the Patriots’ road to the AFC East crown hasn’t been as easy. Their five losses are the most for any Patriots team since going 10-6 in 2009 and losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round.Off-field issues such as the abrupt departure of midseason acquisition Josh Gordon, who was suspended indefinitely by the NFL last Thursday for another violation of the league’s substance abuse policy Jahlani Tavai Jersey , have made the road even tougher.“Every team goes through things,” Belichick said during a conference call Monday. “When you play football for five months, things happen that you have to deal with as a team and we all have to deal with individually. So, I can’t imagine a season where that would ever not be the case.”It’s becoming harder to imagine a season that doesn’t end with the Patriots on top of the AFC East, as well. ATLANTA (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots are bringing two of the top scoring offenses in the NFL to the Super Bowl.The reason they’ve both played so well has a lot to do with the big guys playing up front.Los Angeles had the same offensive line starters for all 16 games and both playoff contests. Their consistency has been key to everything Rams coach Sean McVay does with a team that averaged 32.9 points per game, ranked second in the league.A line that has nobody who has ever played in a Super Bowl is being rewarded.“Having that consistency is big in everything we do,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “We know each other very well at this point, and that’s something that you can rely on when you’re in a tight game, when you need to execute at an important time in the game.”The line has been just as dependable for the Patriots.Tom Brady has not been sacked in either of New England’s two playoff wins, with defenses getting only three quarterback hits while chasing an offense that is part of a team averaging 27.3 points per game Will Harris Jersey , ranked fourth in the NFL.It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Patriots’ 41-year-old quarterback.In the days after their AFC championship game victory over Kansas City, Brady posted a picture on Instagram of his spotless jersey. He tagged each of his offensive linemen in the post, writing, “Not even 1 grass stain!”The last time Brady wasn’t sacked through two playoff games was the 2003 season, when he wasn’t sacked at all during the Patriots’ three wins, including their Super Bowl victory over Carolina.“I think they’ve performed incredible all year really,” Brady said. “We really haven’t had many sacks this year and I think they’ve done such a great job protecting, and the run game, I think that speaks for itself. That was just an incredible effort last week and we’re going to need it again because this group is obviously exceptional at (the defensive line).“The D-line is certainly a great strength of theirs. We’ll be challenged. All those guys will be challenged.”The 37-year-old Whitworth is the cornerstone of the Rams’ offensive turnaround, providing brilliant blocking and steady leadership ever since he left Cincinnati to join McVay on the West Coast two years ago. He has started every game except one in the past two seasons — and so have left guard Rodger Saffold Austin Bryant Jersey , center John Sullivan and right tackle Rob Havenstein.The Rams’ continuity on the line is remarkable in the modern NFL. Their only change from 2017 to 2018 was made at right guard, where Austin Blythe replaced the suspended Jamon Brown for the first two games of this season and played so well he never relinquished the spot.The Rams’ offensive line is a reliable barometer for the success of their powerful offense. When the linemen are playing well, as they did through the first 10 weeks of the season, quarterback Jared Goff operates smoothly behind his protection and Todd Gurley finds gaping holes in their opponents’ defensive fronts.When the line struggles, as it appeared to do at Detroit and Chicago in December, the offense stalls. Goff was pressured 51 times in a four-game stretch late in the regular season after getting pressured just 78 times in the first 10 games, directly leading to the Rams’ losses to the Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles.“Everybody knows how much I love those guys,” Gurley said. “They’re responsible for everything. We’ve got the best line in the game, in my opinion, and they show it on the field every week.”New England lost two starters on its offensive line in the offseason when tackles Nate Solder and Cam Fleming left in free agency. But with Marcus Cannon and Trent Brown taking their spots Rashan Gary Jersey , joining center David Andrews and guards Shaq Mason and Joe Thuney, Brady was sacked 21 times during the regular season, compared with 35 times last season.New England knows it will take a similar effort against a Rams’ defensive line that also features All-Pro Aaron Donald, Dante Fowler and Ndamukong Suh.Andrews said one of the things they are so good at is changing up things, with Suh sometimes playing nose guard, and lining up on the edge other times.“Obviously they’re both dynamic players,” Andrews said. “Aaron Donald is the best defensive football player in the league, there’s no doubt about that. So it’s going to be a big challenge. We’re going to have to do a lot of things well.”
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