The Patriots were happy Sunday night into early Monday morning. Smiles were everywhere. They had answered more questions, especially quarterback Drake Maye, with the first fourth-quarter come-from-behind victory of his NFL career.
This isn’t close to being the same group that stumbled and bumbled and embarrassed themselves repeatedly over the two previous seasons, recording back-to-back 4-13 seasons. Mike Vrabel was hired, brought a new coaching staff with him, and turned over more than 50% of the roster. This is year one of the rebuild - and yes, there’s still plenty of work to be done. And yet, the Patriots have won 11 of their last 12 games and are headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021-22.
“I think it’s top down,” Maye said of this turnaround. “It’s coach Vrabel coming in here, it’s the coaching staff he hired, it’s the guys buying in and believing in what we do. That’s the biggest thing. Believing in what the coach is saying and believing in our identity and carrying it with us.”
“I think everything we’ve done on the field just embodies everything we believe in the building, for sure,” K’Lavon Chaisson said.
As part of the identity that’s been built, the Pats allowed themselves to enjoy the win in Baltimore. However, no one allowed themselves to be satisfied, at least not publicly.
“More work to do,” said Jaylinn Hawkins, repeating that sentence again. “More stuff to input. More work to do. Time to get even better. ... We still got two more games left. Still in that one-week-at-a-time pace, one day at a time. Win the day.”
We’re not talking about playoff wins or Super Bowls (not yet). We’re talking about the goal Vrabel set for this team when he first met with all of them in the spring.
“We’re going to try to win the division,” Vrabel said.
"We want to win the division, and that's still what we're fighting for,’ Maye said in the postgame, seconding his coach. “It's awesome to clinch the playoffs, but we want to win the division."
Improbable as it may have seemed then, it can become a reality with a win over the Jets this weekend. They will have to