FOXBOROUGH- The Patriots upset win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday brought me back to a time when the Patriots ruled the AFC East. When they routinely beat the Bills. A time when come from behind wins were possible.

Sure, the Bills defense was banged up coming into the game but I refuse to take away anything from the Patriots after Sunday’s much needed win.

The offense finally looked capable of scoring points and they made big plays in key situations. The defense terrorized the opposing quarterback and made life difficult for him all afternoon. It was like we went back to five years ago. 

Add to it the induction of former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel and former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia into the Patriots Hall of Fame and the vibe was just different. 

Despite all the nostalgia, the reality is the Patriots are 2-5 and are still facing an uphill climb if they want to get back to playoff contention. It is going to be a long road back.

Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux summed up that reality well after the game.

“Yeah, we’ve got a long way to go. We’ll take the victory. Always want to get a win in the division, Buffalo’s won the division the last three years. So, always good to get a win in the division, but we’ve got a long way to go. 2-5, not where we want to be, but looking forward to looking at the film tomorrow and we look forward to getting to work on a really good Miami team this week.”

For one Sunday however, Gillette Stadium felt like it did back in the day. The fans were hyped, the Patriots played well and won a big game. The fans have not experienced anything like this in the past two seasons so it was nice to recapture the magic on Sunday. 

People were happy after the game. For the first in a long time, it felt a little bit like dynasty years in Foxboro again.