They Can’t Keep Getting Away with This: The New England Patriots Somehow Did It Again

I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I tried to warn everyone before the 2025 NFL season kicked off: I said Drake Maye would emerge as the best quarterback of his draft class and the New England Patriots were going to be a playoff team.

Yes, that same class featured Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick, and Jayden Daniels, who reached the NFC Championship Game in his first season. None of that mattered to me. I said from the beginning that Maye was going to be the quarterback who would end up being the best of the bunch.

Now, in just his second year, the New England Patriots — who finished 4–13 last season — sit at 9–2 and are now not just firmly in the drivers seat for the AFC East crown, but also in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed.

Somehow, some way, the Patriots have done it again and it just shouldn't be possible.

For two decades, the Patriots dominated the NFL with Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback ever, and Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches in history. Six Super Bowls. Nine appearances. A reign that felt like it would go on forever.

And yet, after Brady’s departure in 2020, the organization stumbled into a four-year window of instability — capped off by the disastrous final seasons of Mac Jones, Belichick, and a rookie-year to forget for Maye last season when he was coached by Jerod Mayo who lasted one year on the job.

But everything changed last January when the Patriots finally made the move they should have made in the first place. They hired Mike Vrabel to be their next head coach.

Vrabel has completely transformed this franchise and what’s most impressive is that he has done it without a major roster overhaul.

Sure, they added rookies in the draft and a handful of key veterans like Stefon Diggs, Milton Williams and Robert Spillane, but many of the core pieces were already there.

The difference has been leadership, accountability, and a reset of the organization’s identity. Vrabel’s fingerprints are everywhere.

And now, with Josh McDaniels back as offensive coordinator — almost certainly for the long haul — the Patriots have stability. McDaniels’ head-coaching days are over, and with his history of rocky relationships and failed leadership, staying at OC is likely his permanent role. That continuity will benefit Maye for years.

Back to Maye, while the Patriots’ schedule has been favourable, don’t let that overshadow what Maye is doing right now.

This season, he looks like a completely different player:

• He’s taking far fewer unnecessary risks as a runner.

• His decision-making has improved significantly, though he still makes the occasional questionable read — like last week’s late-game mistake against Tampa.

• His accuracy and touch are elite, especially his deep ball, which might be the best in the NFL right now. The way he drops passes into tight windows is surgical.

And he’s doing this without a true weapon outside of Diggs, which is why he is atop of the MVP race right now.

And sure, that could change next off-season as I have a feeling given everything that has gone down in Philadelphia this season, I expect A.J. Brown to be the Patriots’ top target next season which could make Maye even more dangerous.

The fact that the Patriots are 9–2 and positioned to potentially clinch the AFC’s top seed in Year 1 of the Maye–Vrabel era is staggering.

Do I think they’ll reach the Super Bowl? Probably not. That leap feels too big, too soon.

But the idea of the AFC playoffs running through Foxboro again — this early — is unbelievable.

Somehow, the Patriots found a way to near the top of the NFL, and I can’t say I didn’t see this coming.

New England, you some ow did it again.

Unbelievable.