“I remember going into the season thinking, ‘we’re not going to win every game. It’s not going to be like college. It’s going to be hard.”
About that, TreVeyon Henderson. Maybe your new team didn’t go undefeated as Ohio State did in your final year with the Buckeyes, but they came closer than anyone would have expected. The Patriots have lost exactly three games this season by a combined total of 18 points.
“It’s so amazing,” Henderson said. “It’s crazy how this program turned around.”
Henderson was voted to the 1st-team All Rookie squad by the Pro Football Writers Association. He was certainly deserving, rushing for 911 yards (5.1) YPC and 9 touchdowns (and one more receiving).
The running back has not had the same kind of impact in this postseason as he did during the regular season. In fact, he got a season-low four snaps in the AFC Championship game, ceding that shared backfield with Rhamondre Stevenson to the veteran, who has become a workhorse in the playoffs. Yet, there is no jealousy here. These two have been supporting each other since Henderson was drafted in the second round of the 2025 draft.
“Really happy for him,” Henderson said of Stevenson earlier this week. “Just knowing the things that he went through, not just on the field but off the field as well. Just the way he carries himself, the way he cares about this team. It means a lot to me just seeing how he goes about being a professional. I’ve been able to learn so much and pick up so much from him. So it’s great to have a vet in the room like Rhamondre.”
The feeling is mutual.
“He’s a great guy,” Stevenson said. “A great teammate. He’s worked hard and wants to learn. He’s respectful. And he’s helped us win. That’s what we’re here for.”
As Henderson referenced (and we’ve written about several times this season), Stevenson’s father passed away unexpectedly in the spring, which had him in and out of the offseason program. The Patriots did their best to support him, with running backs coach Tony Dews traveling out to Las Vegas at the time, and Mike Vrabel reminding the 27-year-old to take care of his family and that football would still be there for him.
On top of that, the fumbling issue that plagued Stevenson’s last year showed up again at the start of this year. Vrabel insisted the team would need him, and that confidence has been rewarded, especially since Stevenson returned from a toe injury.
“It's been awesome to watch,” Drake Maye said last week. “I think the biggest thing is he hasn't wavered, and we haven't shied away from trusting in him. ... We knew what type of player he was, what type of player he can be in this league. As you've seen it, it's been such a great deal to watch him kind of bounce back and have some early-season woes, and that's just part of life. He hasn't blinked.”
“So much respect for him,” center Garrett Bradbury said this week. “He’s such a great teammate. He’s such a great dude. We will ride with him and TreVeyon every day.”
While the Pats' offense is clearly built around Maye's talents, coordinator Josh McDaniels has struck a good balance with his running backs. The two complement one another, but they’ve been far more than complementary pieces to this offense. And if this team is to accomplish what Henderson thought was going to be far more difficult than it’s been, you can be fairly certain one - or both - will help make it happen.
THEY DID WHAT, EXACTLY?
Since we last talked (if you will), a few more of the head coaching vacancies have been filled. What the Steelers and Browns did qualifies as head-scratching at best. At worst? They’ll be doing this dance all over again a year from now.
In Pittsburgh, the organization broke from hiring history, tabbing Mike McCarthy to replace Mike Tomlin. Tomlin, Bill Cowher, and Chuck Noll were the only three coaches in franchise history, and all came from defensive backgrounds and were hired in their mid-30’s. McCarthy is 62, and this is his third crack at being the boss, going from Green Bay to Dallas and now, back to his home state.
“Oftentimes, as coaches and players, when you put on new team colors, it takes a minute to feel comfortable in those new colors,” McCarthy said, fighting back tears. “But to be blessed beyond any measure one day to put on the colors you wore since you were brought home...”
McCarthy is a ‘Yinzer’ through and through, born in Pittsburgh and growing up as Noll built that Steeler dynasty with Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and so many other greats. He’s been successful - he won a Super Bowl with the Packers and had three straight 12-win seasons in Dallas.
It appeared his candidacy was being driven by his agent and his ties to the NFL media, but McCarthy won over the Steelers brass with his plan, both short-term and long-term. And yes, that may include a return from quarterback Aaron Rodgers, which is welcome by the new head coach.
“Definitely,” McCarthy said. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t …. I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV, and I thought he was a great asset for the team.”
It will also be on McCarthy to develop the new guy at that position, something that Pittsburgh hasn’t had to do/been able to do since Ben Roethlisberger faded.
“Everybody we talked to, the conversation of developing the next young quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers was part of it,” GM Omar Khan said. “I think Mike’s resume speaks for itself.”
As for the Browns, they went off the board, hiring Todd Monken. The former Ravens offensive coordinator appeared on track to join John Harbaugh with the Giants, but Cleveland wanted a coach from that side of the ball, and Monken outdid young Rams assistant Nate Scheelhaase and current Browns DC Jim Schwartz to get the job.
Bypassing Schwartz has already caused problems. The defensive players were public in their support of him, and though he is still under contract, Schwartz left the facility in a huff after hearing the news, telling anyone who would listen he would not be back. Now, Monken not only inherits a roster with more holes than your favorite socks, but he may have to patch up some fractured feelings/relationships. If that isn’t a very Cleveland thing to do...
Monken turns 60 next week and has been a head coach only once, from 2013-15 at Southern Mississippi. Yet the Haslems thought this was the right play after dismissing two-time coach of the year, Kevn Stefanski (now the Falcons HC).
“Todd is highly intelligent, and his experienced, innovative offensive mindset has been at the forefront of constructing productive and successful offenses at the NFL and collegiate level over the last 20 years,” they said in a statement. “He is an outstanding leader and has a clear vision to lead our team as a strong communicator who values trust with his players, but also accountability and preparation.”
The Browns need a major offensive overhaul. Six of their offensive linemen are free agents, and five carry dead money on the salary cap for future years. There’s also the albatross that is DeShaun Watson, and the rest of an unsettled quarterback position with a pair of first-year players, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel (that Sanders is a Pro Bowler is the very reason why I ranted about that stupid thing a month or so ago). Monken is going to have to be one hell of a coach to overcome the mess he’s inherited.
BRADY’S BUNCH
Meanwhile, in western New York, the Bills introduced Joe Brady as Sean McDermott’s successor. The team’s offensive coordinator for the last two-plus seasons. Brady has never been a head coach during his stops in college or the pros, but he’s now entrusted with a team that “hit the proverbial playoff wall,” according to owner Terry Pegula.
“I didn’t take this job to shy away from expectations,” Brady declared. “I sure as hell did not do that. I’m embracing it. I’m understanding it. And I’m meeting it full-on. I know what I signed up for — and we’re going to embrace it because no one rises to low expectations. I want what the city wants. I want what Mr. Pegula deserves.”
Brady’s personality is in stark contrast to the more buttoned-up McDermott, and that came across in the press conference.
“One of the things that the guys know about me and look, it might be from Espresso, it might be from Gatorade Fast Twitches, but I'm going to bring the energy every single day,” he said. “And I believe people are going to feed off of that. I truly believe in being the temperature. I'm the weather, and they're going to feel it every single day. A mentality. I believe in everything about these guys right here. And the mentality as we go forward... they’ve got to play us. Not the other way around. And I mean that with everything. They’ve got to play the Buffalo Bills. They’ve got to play Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, not the other way around. And it does not matter the day of the week, the time of the day. Is it outside? Is it inside? What's the weather? Just put the damn ball down, let's go play. That’s Buffalo.”
That’s all well and good, but what will Brady bring to the table to take the Bills to the level they have yet to reach with Allen in his prime? He says he will continue to call plays, and with that quarterback, the offense is unlikely to stink anytime soon. Defensively, there’s been no coordinator hire. The team has been linked to Broncos assistant head coach Jim Leonhard, fired Falcons HC Raheem Morris, and Schwartz, should he become available. But GM Brandon Beane will have to restructure some contracts (he’ll start with Allen, then figure out what to do with Dawson Knox; moving on from him could save $11 million). Buffalo is currently $11 million over the salary cap (would you look at that). That’s the 7th-worst cap situation in the league as of today.
NERD NUMBERS
- Sam Darnold will be the first QB from USC to start at QB in a Super Bowl.
- Darnold has a 122.4 passer rating in the playoffs this season (7th highest by any QB prior to reaching the Super Bowl all-time).
- Darnold led the NFL with 20 giveaways in 2025 (14 INT, 6 fumbles lost) but has 0 giveaways in the playoffs.
- NGS: 11 of Darnold's 20 giveaways in 2025 came when he was pressured (T-most, Joe Flacco). 6 INT when pressured (T-4th) and 5 fumbles lost on strip sacks (2nd, Cam Ward).
- All 4 of Darnold's pass TDs in the playoffs have come when he was pressured (per NGS).
- Maye will be the 9th QB in NFL history to start a Super Bowl in their first or 2nd season in the NFL (2nd Patriots QB to do so, joining Tom Brady in 2001). The 49ers are the only other team to reach the Super Bowl with multiple 1st- or 2nd-year QBs (Brock Purdy and Colin Kaepernick). Could become the 5th QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Brady, and HOF Kurt Warner.
- Maye will join HOF Roger Staubach (1975) and HOF Peyton Manning (2006) as the only QBs to face each of the top 3 scoring defenses from the regular season in a single postseason. He can join Manning as the only QB to win all 3 such games: defeated Baltimore (#1 scoring defense) in the Divisional Round, NE (#2) in the AFC Championship, and Chicago (#3) in Super Bowl XLI in 2006. Quarterbacks in their 1st or 2nd season are 0-5 in the playoffs vs the #1 scoring defense (since 1950).
- Maye is just 9-26 (34.6%) on downfield throws in playoffs (NGS: 10+ air yds). He led the NFL with 61.2 completion % on downfield throws in the regular season (was 7th-highest single-season mark in the Next Gen Stats era).
- Jaxson Smith-Njigba needs 35 rec yards to join Cooper Kupp (2,425 in 2021) and Puka Nacua (2,047 in 2025) as the only players with 2,000+ receiving yards in a single season, including playoffs.
- Smith-Njigba became the 1st player in the Super Bowl era to lead the league in receiving yards while playing for a team that passed the ball at a bottom-3 rate.
- Christian Gonzalez ranked top 5 among CBs in completion percentage (50.6; 3rd), yards/target (5.4; T-2nd) and passer rating (75.2; 5th) allowed in 2025 (min. 75 targets, per NGS). Gonzalez: 39.3 opposing completion percentage allowed in 2025 postseason (2nd in NFL, min. 10 targets).
- Carlton Davis III (21.4) and Gonzalez (39.0) have allowed the two lowest opposing passer ratings among players who have been targeted at least 10 times in the 2025 playoffs.