For the first time in a long time, Patriots fans woke up Monday morning lamenting a loss.

It seemed as if New England would never lose again on the magical ride that’s been the 2025 season. But, Buffalo did what championship teams do, dominating the second half before finding a way to win a tough, old school division game on the road.

The Patriots lost the chance to celebrate an AFC East title on what was a quintessential New England December day. There was just enough rawness in the air and the perfect amount of snow to make it a memorable afternoon for 60,000+ fans, regardless of the outcome.

It was loud early and often and fans rarely sat down, even in the 300 sections. Rte. 1 was starting to back up when I left Dunkins right off the high way (next to Mick Morgan’s) a little before 9:00 a.m. The lot behind 3B (the ‘media lot’) was full of tents and grills firing minutes after parking lots officially opened. Lots just in front of the lighthouse were rocking with music, cigars and grills when I made the walk towards the media entrance (not all heroes wear capes), wanting to get a sense of the atmosphere as early as possible.

Even upstairs in the press box, from the packed meal room on the first level to the rows of writers and TV personalities on the second level, there was just a different kind of buzz.

A fantastic rendition of the national anthem had the place juiced early and obviously, the 21-0 start had the stadium looking and feeling like it was 2014.

Slowly but surely, Buffalo did its thing, though. Some critical third and fourth downs in the fourth quarter were thunderous, but the Bills found ways to execute and the Patriots didn’t.

Players took notice of the environment on Sunday, which still should have a chance to recreate itself with a home playoff game (hopefully more), barring a collapse in the final three games.

“It was awesome. It was probably the best I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Garrett Bradbury said on Monday. “The snow, the fans, the crowd, it was pretty special. It was an awesome environment to play in. That’s why you play for moments like these, for games like these. It’s December football, so looking forward to a few more of those and yeah, it was awesome. The fans were awesome.”

“It was great. Great environment, the weather was football weather to me,” added Rhamondre Stevenson. “The crowd was into it. It was a very loud environment. I think we loved it. We love when our fans get into it and December games, they’re kinda lit. I think it was one of those.”

As long as the Pats take care of business – at least against the Jets and Dolphins, Baltimore is going to be a very difficult test – then the atmosphere in Foxborough on Sunday should be back again (or maybe even better) early in January.