Thursday night at Gillette Stadium was a party. It started several hours before the game. The parking lots were full, the grills were smoking, the beer was flowing, and I'm pretty sure I got a contact high walking into the building. That may be why the periodic rain and the kind of cold that settles into your bones could not dampen these feelings. Or it's simply because the Patriots are back, baby.
A team expected to improve under Mike Vrabel has shattered all but the rosiest of predictions. They are 9-2, the best record in the NFL, have won eight straight games, and are showing zero signs of taking their foot off the gas pedal.
“No one feels outmatched," Robert Spillane told us. "We’re never going to feel like an underdog. We’re going to continue playing team defense, team offense, team football, and let the chips fall where they may.”
There is a sense of togetherness in this group, one that began to form in the spring and has become an important part of this equation. From Morgan Moses gathering the young linemen post-practice in May, to Mack Hollins helping the young receivers study, to Drake Maye working with skill players long after the coaches have left the field, this group is invested in one another.
That's a far cry from the absurdity that happened at the end of the Belichick era, or during the one season of the Jerod Mayo error (and yes, I meant to spell it that way). Those teams were so individualistic, and I wrote then about the mercenaries that cared about a) getting paid and b) how they played. At the first sign of adversity, the team didn't matter. There were far too many 'I did my job' comments over those three years than I can recall hearing in the previous two decades.
Now? This group often talks, unprompted, about how close they are and how that "brotherhood" matters. It's led to scenes like we witnessed during Maye's postgame press conference, when Will Campbell popped his head in and playfully interrupted his quarterback. Maye smiled broadly, broke into laughter, and told his left tackle to "get out of here, rookie."
In the locker room shortly thereafter, as Hollins spoke to reporters about the "power push" that helped TreVeyon Henderson get into the end zone on his second touchdown (at least four Pats pushed the pile), Maye chirped the wideout, saying he didn't do any pushing. Hollins fessed up, but added he was cheering everyone on. More smiles. More laughter.
This season has been, in part, a story about the transformative power of change. Vrabel came to Foxborough with a plan, and even if it didn't necessarily make sense in the moment - the releases of David Andrews and Jabril Peppers, for instance, or standing pat at the trade deadline - the head coach has never blinked about the decisions he's made, or will continue to make. This is his team, his vision, and he has empowered his players and staff to have a stake in it. They, in turn, have rewarded Vrabel's faith, and now the dreams of playing meaningful games in December and January have become a reality. Not bad for year one. Not bad at all.
STORY ENDS PREDICTABLY
The New York Giants decided to part ways with Brian Daboll after blowing their fourth 10-point lead of the season, falling 24-20 in Chicago on Sunday. That dropped the Giants to 2-8 on the season, and 20-40-1 during Daboll's tenure.
I'm not here to tell you the head coach should have survived. Heck, ownership should have blown out the entire group after last season, especially when John Mara demanded a playoff-or-bust type season. That was unrealistic. But somehow, GM Joe Schoen managed to survive.
“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the results over the past three years have not been what any of us want. We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans expect.”
“The past few seasons have been nothing short of disappointing, and we have not met our expectations for this franchise. We understand the frustrations of our fans, and we will work to deliver a significantly improved product."
Neither ownership nor the GM publicly addressed the firing. If you want to make an excuse for Mara, the front-facing owner, he is battling cancer. But Schoen? He wasn't even quoted in the statement. It was Schoen who wanted Daboll. The two spent four years together in Buffalo, and yet, for a third straight season, the team he built is sitting at 2-8 in November. Explain how Schoen is now in a position to pick a second head coach, when his first attempt went so poorly? But this is how the Giants seem to roll. Over the last decade, this is the third time they've blown out the coach but retained the GM, and that included two-time Super Bowl-winning HC Tom Coughlin, in favor of Jerry Reese, who hasn't gotten another sniff of a GM job since.
The current GM has four top-7 picks under his belt (Kavyon Thibodeaux, Evan Neal, Malik Nabers, Abdul Carter) and, at the urging of Daboll, traded back into the first round in April to select Jaxson Dart. But he has allowed several important players to flee via free agency, including Saquon Barkley (as famously chronicled by the in-season 'Hard Knocks') and safety Xavier McKinney, while also giving sizable contracts to Russell Wilson (only 1 year), Paulson Adebo (3 yrs, $54 million), and Jon Runyan Jr ($18 million in guarantees). Never mind the extension he co-authored with Daboll for Daniel Jones. There was also a third-round pick surrendered for Darren Waller, who basically stopped playing football once he arrived in NY. And yet, well, you get my point. Schoen keeps getting to make decisions, including the promotion of Mike Kafka as interim head coach.
Kafka will now have what some believe is an open audition for the job, despite no previous head coaching experience and having his play-calling duties taken away from him in his second year as Daboll's offensive coordinator (he hasn't had it since).
“My only focus is just the players,” Kafka said. “We need to make sure, as a group, as a staff, we come together, put together a great plan.”
AS FOR DABOLL...
With the Bills scuffling offensively, and Daboll credited with working wonders with Josh Allen during their time together, it would make a lot of sense for a Buffalo reunion of sorts. However, earlier this week, Sean McDermott shot down that idea.
“At this point,” he said, “that’s not under any type of consideration.”
McDermott and Daboll are both strong personalities, so it's possible there's still some lingering issue between the two. The head coach was publicly critical of Daboll's unwillingness to run the ball in their final season working together. As someone who's been known to hold a grudge, I'd understand.
However, it could be as simple as McDermott wanting to remain loyal to his current OC, Joe Brady. Brady did a terrific job after taking over for Ken Dorsey during the 2023-24 season, earning the full-time job. He was then calling the plays as Allen won his first MVP last season.
“Joe’s a good coach,” McDermott said. “We got a really good offensive staff. They’ve had really good games. You’re going to have some games you want back, some play calls you want back. Those happen. It’s how you respond to them, and I’m fully confident in our offensive staff and Joe as our leader that we’ll make the adjustments we need to make and move us forward.”
The Bills scored a season-low 13 points in the Week 10 loss at Miami. It was also only the third time they had 0 points through the first three quarters of a game in the Josh Allen era. In fact, Buffalo has scored 20 points or fewer in all three of their losses in 2025 and has struggled to access the intermediate to deep areas of the field with their passing game (you can thank GM Brandon Beane for that).
“At the end of the day, when we play like we played, I’ve got to be better,” Brady said on Monday. “I’m not going to point the fingers at anybody else. When we have that type of performance, it falls solely on me.
“If guys aren’t getting involved in ways they probably should, again, that’s strictly on me, and it’s something that as a staff we continue to look at and try to find ways.”
On Wednesday, Allen told the media he remained "very confident" in the operation and the players surrounding him. Of course, he was asked about Daboll.
“I love the guy,” said the Bills’ quarterback. “Still got a lot of love for Coach Daboll.”
In other words, don't close the door on this idea just yet.
GAME OF THE YEAR?
I am no fan of Thursday night football, but if the Patriots had to be stuck in that spot, this wasn't a bad week for it. That's because my behind will be glued to the couch Sunday for the game of the year to this point, as the 7-2 Seahawks head to LA to play the 7-2 Rams. These are currently the best teams in football (and yes, your Patriots are in the conversation), and the only ones with top-5 scoring offenses and defenses.
Rams coach Sean McVay did nothing but fan the flames of my enthusiasm for this matchup, calling Seattle "as complete a team as I've seen just from afar" while adding, "They have a great coaching, great personnel, and a great scheme."
That last part, scheme, will be such an integral part of this matchup. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wants his defense to live in nickel and let his impressive front four control the line of scrimmage, while also being light/fast enough to handle the pass game. But McVay wants to get defenses into base personnel (3-4 or 4-3) and then throw the ball. In fact, the Rams have leaned into 13 personnel (1 RB, 1 WR, 3 TEs) like never before, using that grouping 15% of the time (although at a much greater clip than that over the last five weeks, including a whopping 40% in Sunday's win over the 49ers). In total, McVay has used three tight end sets more times this season than in the previous eight years combined.
“The thing that’s cool is it always starts with the players,” McVay said. “The only reason you can do it is because you have four players that are capable of doing it. They’re smart, they’re conscientious, they can play all the spots, and it’s awesome.”
Those four players are Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, and rookie Terrance Ferguson. They are just one reception short of the tight end room's entire production a season ago, and already have more yards and more than double the touchdowns (7 to 3).
"My job is to help design a plan, coach the heck out of it with our guys, and organize it with our staff so they can play great football," Macdonald said of the challenge for his Seahawks this week. "Keep it simple. Keep it in our wheelhouse. Sean is a tremendous play-caller, a great offensive coordinator. They have a great offense, but the approach is the same every week."
Macdonald's defense ranks second in sacks (32), tied for second in QB hits (63), fourth in opposing passing yards/attempt (5.7), and third in opposing passer rating (83.3). They are also the only team to have at least four players with 10 or more QB hits.
"This is going to be a great test for our defense," cornerback Devon Witherspoon said, adding that Rams QB Matthew Stafford, "knows defenses really well. Identifies pressures. Gets the ball out. He's everything you want in a quarterback."
Stafford is on a heater, with 4+ passing TDs and 0 INTs in 3 straight games. That's the longest streak in NFL history.
NERD NUMBERS
- 6 rookies already have 6+ scrimmage TD in 2025. That's the most by rookies through the first 10 weeks of a season in the Common Draft era (since 1967). Jaxson Dart (7), Cam Skattebo (7, season-ending IR), Ashton Jeanty (7), Emeka Egbuka (6), RJ Harvey (6) and TreVeyon Henderson (6) are producing at a high clip.
- 3 rookies already have 600+ receiving yards in 2025 (Egbuka, Tetairoa McMillan, Tyler Warren). That's tied for the most by rookies through the first 10 weeks of a season since at least 1950 (matching the 2021 class of Ja'Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, and Kyle Pitts). It's also the first season for three rookies to have 600+ receiving yards and multiple receiving TDs through the first 10 weeks. Not too shabby.
- Warren’s 617 receiving yards are the most by a rookie TE through the first 10 weeks of a season in the Super Bowl era, and only trails HOF Mike Ditka in yards through first 10 weeks all-time (869 yds in 1961).
- The Vikings have the 4th highest QB pressure pct (39.7) in 2025 but rank outside of the top 10 in sacks (24, 12th) and QB hits (49, T-14th). They were top 5 in sacks (49, T-4th) and QB Hits (112, 3rd) in 2024. So it's not just the QB issues that are bringing them down.
- Wan’Dale Robinson has 38 receptions since Nabers was injured in Week 4. That's tied for 7th best in the NFL over that time. He's a free agent at year's end.
- Joe Flacco has averaged 313.5 pass YPG since being traded to Cincy in Week 6. That's tops in the league. Joe Burrow just returned to practice this week on a limited basis.
- The Bengals are averaging just 78.8 rush YPG in 2025 (last in NFL).
- The Texans have the #1 scoring defense (16.7 PPG allowed) and #1 total defense (261.3 YPG allowed) in 2025. No team in the Super Bowl era has finished #1 in both scoring and overall defense and missed the playoffs. Houston is 4-5 currently and on the outside of the playoff mix.
