Mike Vrabel’s transformation of the Patriots from a four-win cellar dweller to a Super Bowl contender is the one of the most dramatic turnarounds any NFL team has undergone this century.
For the second week in a row, Vrabel’s team had to grit it out in an ugly fourth quarter overwhelmed by a snow squall. This time, it was in the historically hostile territory of Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver, where New England had previously gone 0-4 in playoff games.
It wasn’t pretty – almost the entire game, like much of second-year quarterback Drake Maye’s first path through the playoffs - was a total grind. Maye finished the first half with just 41 passing yards and three sacks.
But a halftime adjustment turning the offensive focus to the ground game built some semblance of momentum for the offense, who had scored just one touchdown off a goofy Jarrett Stidham turnover in the Broncos red zone. Rhamondre Stevenson proved himself, once again, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ most dependable weapon in the postseason. That moniker is a huge deal for the running back who many fans (and media) were calling to be benched after a multi-fumble game against the Steelers in Week 3. He finished the game with 71 on 25 carries. Maye’s scrambles for first downs, (in addition to a quarterback draw play on the first touchdown), boosted their firepower and put kicker Andy Borregales within a makeable range in unforgivable conditions.
Concerning the defense, they’re one of two aspects to Vrabel’s Patriots that make them scarier than they were in the regular season, as they now prepare for the Super Bowl. The Patriots’ regular season was buoyed by Maye’s eight-straight games posting passer ratings above 100. They were front runners who managed to hold on through fourth quarters and (mostly) avoid shooting themselves in the foot.
In the playoffs, they’ve been an entirely different animal. Maye’s had to contend with a gauntlet of stiff defenses, but his own defensive unit put the clamps down on Denver during the blizzard at the end of the game. When the slippery field conditions stymied a New England drive deep out of their own territory, the defense made an impressive stand to prevent any damage in the one-score game, and a clutch late pick by Christian Gonzalez, (his first of the year), made him the biggest hero of the night.
"I just want to make the plays that come my way. As a corner, as a DB, you don’t get too many chances," Gonzalez said postgame. "But, when your number's called and you're somebody the team looks to make plays, it’s big time to be able to do it."
The other factor that makes Vrabel’s group a scary draw for their NFC opponent is their unbreakable belief in themselves. The locker room is close in a way that’s uncommon in this league. They echo their coach’s message, week-after-week, and celebrate one another’s playmaking with genuine joy. On the other side of that coin is the way they lifted up teammate Jahlani Tavai after he faced great personal tragedy just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Tavai’s wife shared that suffered a rare blood infection and the loss of their unborn child, and his teammates FaceTimed him from their victory in Cincinnati that week. While special teamer and captain Brenden Schooler told WEEI that he felt the players from the four-win squads of 2023 and 2024 shared something close to a 'trauma bond,' freshly-inked free agents like Stefon Diggs and K'Lavon Chaisson shared throughout the season that it was both one of the genuinely tightest knit, and 'best' locker rooms they had every been a part of.
"I'm just really thankful to be a part of this team," Diggs said, after the win. "Thankful."
Despite being a less-than-formidable fourth-quarter offense during the regular season, their buy-in to Vrabel’s oft-repeated, “just one play” mentality, and their belief in one another being able to step into that role of playmaker, they’ve transformed into a postseason team who feels inevitable and undefeatable in the clutch.
Now, the Patriots become the second team to go from four wins in a previous season to a Super Bowl appearance in this century, (technically millennium). The last team who accomplished that feat was the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals, and in addition to four wins, that 2020 team recorded one tie. The last team who won the subsequent Super Bowl was the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ St. Louis Rams in 1999.
When Maye walked off the field in snowy Denver, having done what even Tom Brady could never accomplish at Mile High, he sounded at a loss for words to CBS sideline reporter Tracey Wolfson. But what he spoke rang true.
“Pats are back, baby. Let’s go win one.”