The Patriots thoroughly dominated the AFC East the past decade, winning the division title in each year of the 2010s.
As such, New England’s representation on ESPN’s 2010s AFC East All-Decade Team shouldn’t be very surprising.
The network’s reporters for the Patriots, Bills, Dolphins and Jets teamed up to distribute the honors, which included selecting a player for each position as well as naming the best player of the decade for each team. Tom Brady unsurprisingly earned the nod for New England, while defensive tackle Kyle Williams, defensive end Cameron Wake and cornerback Darrelle Revis were picked for Buffalo, Miami and New York, respectively.
As for the team, the Patriots made up nearly half of the offense. Brady headlined the unit and was joined by Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Logan Mankins and Nate Solder. New England featured four homegrown players on defense — Vince Wilfork, Dont’a Hightower, Chandler Jones and Devin McCourty — as well as three other players who split time with another AFC East team over the course of the decade: Revis, David Harris and Stephon Gilmore. Stephen Gostkowski was named the team’s kicker.
Arguably the most obvious choice for the team, however, wasn’t a player. Bill Belichick was selected as head coach, a no-brainer even if you take the Super Bowl titles out of the equation. The Bills, Dolphins and Jets all had at least three different head coaches dating back to 2010, while Belichick has held his post in Foxboro since 2000.
