Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork addresses the media during his postgame press conference on Sunday, December 26, 2010.
On if the only setback is not being able to travel back home tonight and getting the win:
Yeah, that's about the only thing, to have to stay out here and not get back to your family. With a W, to win the (AFC) East, we won this week knowing that we've got a really good chance of doing something special. All week we talked about coming out and playing, and just winning. We knew Buffalo had a pretty good team; it's not the Buffalo of old. They've got new faces from the staff to the players. They have great players at the skill positions everywhere and the offensive line. We knew it was going to be tough coming in here, especially with the distractions with Christmas and everything. I'm glad we fought, this New England Patriots football team showed a lot of guts today. We had some guys under the weather, they went out and played and gave it their all. We got a W, that's our biggest present. Being able to come into the locker room and see (the division championship) hat and t-shirt is one of your goals and that's something to be proud of. We have a really competitive division, and for us to win it, I know a lot of people counted us out. All year we knew what we had in this locker room, we knew how special this team could be. We just had to start focusing and hitting on all cylinders. I think last month we started hitting on all cylinders. This football team is getting better, we're not where we want to be by any means but we are definitely moving forward. We've got to continue to get better and play better football down the road.
On if it is satisfying to know that they have proved something defensively:
Like I said, all year we knew what we had with the bunch that we have on defense. Some guys don't get credit, you're so used to hearing the bigger names like myself and Jerod (Mayo) but it's everybody who steps on that field defensively. They come in and they play their role. You see (Jarrad) Page, (Patrick) Chung making plays, you see Dane Fletcher, Eric Moore, the list goes on. I think sometimes with those guys you kind of miss them with the other names, the New England Patriots and what Tom (Brady) is to this organization. It's a bunch of guys that go out and play ball and always give us the best chance to win and we saw us today.
On the people who have been added throughout the season:
I don't think that this organization makes too many mistakes when it comes down to personnel and finding guys that fit this mold. We saw Dane Fletcher as a diamond in the rough. He was a defensive lineman and now he's making plays for us being a linebacker.
On how great of an accomplishment it is to have home field given the changes this season:
You know what? That means a lot to us. To be able to come out and just silence the critics. A lot of people doubted us, some people still might. At the same time, all year we knew what we had in this locker room. The guys did a really good job all year of just staying focused and not even paying attention to the stuff that was in the papers or media, whatever it may be. The guys just did a really good job of staying focused. We have a sign coming out of our stadium saying "Don't believe the hype". I think that speaks for itself, from being the greatest team and then being one of the worst teams, we heard it all. I think guys really buckled down and just trusted one another that we can be a really good football team if we just stay focused and outwork our opponents. Half the time that just comes with practice. If you prepare well in practice, normally you play well. The times we didn't, it cost us. We've got a lot of work to do but at the same time with this team, you've got to keep getting better. There's no doubt in my mind that we won't keep getting better. That's where we're at right now.
