The New England Patriots clinched the National Football League's (NFL) AFC East Conference with a win over the Miami Dolphins (41-13).

This win marks the sixth straight AFC East title that the Patriots have won, setting a franchise record with 24 points in the third quarter alone in the midst of it all. However, that was not the only record the Patriots made.

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For all intents and purposes, Sunday night was a night of great performances, as well as the tying and breaking of franchise records for the Patriots. It was also the fifth game of the surging Patriots that had more than 40 points in this season, a tie with their franchise record.

As the game began, the Patriots opened with a big play on special teams. Kyle Arrington returned a blocked field goal 62 yards for a touchdown. It was the third field goal blocked by the Patriots, another tie with their franchise record.

Arrington left the game early with a hamstring injury though and did not return.

Stephen Gostkowski also just passed Adam Vinatieri to become the Patriots' all-time leading scorer with 1,160 points.

Finally, the game against the Dolphins saw quarterback Tom Brady become the fifth player in NFL history with 4,500 completions. He joins Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, and Drew Brees. He finished 21 of 35 for 287 yards, with two touchdowns and only one interception.

For all the accolades and achievements that the Patriots just achieved, their whole game was not perfect. Head Coach Bill Belichick admitted that in the first half, they did not play very well. By the half, the Dolphins were only one point behind (14-13).

"We just took some not very good football and made it worse and then were able to do things a lot better in the second half," Belichick said.

When the next half begun though, the Patriots launched an offensive onslaught that secured their lead and the AFC East title.

Tagsnew england patriots, miami dolphins, NFL, Football, AFC East Conference, tom brady