Mike Vrabel walked into Nissan Stadium Sunday for the first time since being fired by the Titans in 2023, and walked out with a win and what should be boundless optimism regarding his future in New England.
Everyone except Amy Adams Strunk knew Vrabel was a solid coach when Robert Kraft hired him last winter. But after watching the Patriots’ second-year quarterback, Drake Maye, put on another wildly efficient and proficient performance to lead the Patriots to a 31-13 win, it’s fair to wonder whether he’s just scratched the surface of what he can accomplish as an NFL coach.
Because in New England, Vrabel has what he never did in Tennessee: a franchise quarterback. And Maye is playing a way that changes the conversation from debating week-to-week success to discussing long-term possibilities.
Maye completed 91.3% of his 23 attempted passes against the Titans and the deep shot is increasingly becoming his signature. He averaged 9.7 yards per pass attempt and he relies on no single receiver. He spread the ball out once again Sunday, among Stefon Diggs, (69 yards), Kayshon Boutte, (55 yards), Mack Hollins, (49 yards), and Hunter Henry, (33 yards).
So, in reality, only a catastrophe can derail New England from a playoff appearance. Six of their ten remaining games are against teams with two wins or fewer through the first six weeks of the year, (they still see the hapless New York Jets, twice). While a shellacking of the sad-trombone Titans may not carry weight of a Sunday Night Football win over Buffalo, it should be highly indicative of how the team could tally 11 wins in Vrabel’s first year as head coach.
Once they’re there, all bets are off. The playoffs are an entirely different beast than 1 o’clock games in October. Who knows how Maye will handle the pressure of the environment, not to mention the wear and tear of an entire NFL season, plus postseason? He took four sacks in Tennessee and had to undergo concussion testing after smacking his head against the turf as a runner in the third quarter. Maye plays a super physical game. But he’ll get the experience in just his second year in a league highly impatient regarding young quarterbacks.
The Patriots have already pulled lightyears ahead of the league cellar dwellers, and their own recent rock bottom past. It’s happened faster than many in the media, (this writer candidly included) expected, but it’s real. As they stack wins week-to-week, it’s difficult to keep from imagining what future seasons could hold for the marriage between a coach and quarterback as complementary as Vrabel and Maye appear for one another.
“There’s a lot of demand there from Josh and myself and I think he’s responded to that as far as the leadership he’s had to show in this offense. He kept talking about he had to earn it. Well, I’ve told him he’s earned it,” Vrabel said about his quarterback postgame. “He doesn’t like something in practice, he gets it fixed. And if he wants a better Friday practice, he talks about it before we go out there on Friday. Those guys respond to him, the things that he says, and how he operates.”
Pointing out how Maye is only 23 years old feels a bit like the old “Jayson Tatum is just 19,” but New England and their coach find themselves in an insanely valuable position. Think back to when Vrabel led the Titans to the AFC Championship game in 2020. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 32 years old, on his second team, and bolstered by running back Derrick Henry.
Maye has all the potential in the world and the Patriots’ run game showed up in a meaningful way for the first time this season in Week 7.
There are still a lot of cracks that need sealing on the Patriots roster. The run game has to show sustainability. The defense still shows up about 15 minutes late to every game. They lack depth.
And yet, there’s already no doubt Vrabel will be the one who got away from Tennessee. Chants of his name rained down from the stands as he exited the field in Nashville. Now, a thousand miles north of his old home, he has what truly makes a head coach dangerous. He has his quarterback.