Patriots' Season Was A Success Regardless Of Outcome

The last two seasons, New England Patriots fans watched Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo trudge off the Gillette Stadium turf. In 2023, Belichick coached his final game with New England after losing in a snowy mix to the New York Jets. One year later and the man hired to replace him was canned less than three hours after the final horn of the team's fourth win.

The teams of two seasons prior combined for eight wins.

By all accounts, anything that showed a step in the right direction — whether it was a leap up from quarterback Drake Maye, a defense that didn't both bend and break, or just playing competitive football until the end — would be a successful season.

Mike Vrabel Has Done What He Set Out To Do

This year has blown those mild preseason expectations out of the water, and then some.

Mike Vrabel has come in here and said what he was going to do — install a program that makes the players, coaches and fans proud of what is being displayed on the field. Eleven wins later, and just one more away from recapturing the AFC East for the first time since a certain Hall of Fame quarterback did it in 2019, should be considered a success.

Before the year, if Maye took a sophomore leap, fans would be happy. After all, they just went through years of losing football. They certainly didn't expect what the young captain has done.

The 60,000 votes for the Pro Bowl just tell half the story. The league-wide fan favorite has wooed the NFL with his otherworldly accuracy and ability to distribute the ball to a group of fairly under appreciated wideouts. Maye's historic season rivals some of the performances from MVP quarterbacks of the past, including one he's set to face for the second time this year.

Nov 13, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) on the field against the New York Jets in the third quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills, sitting second in the division, are one loss away from getting unseated as the kings of the AFC East. In the first matchup, it was a wire-to-wire game that came down to the wire — a game-winning kick from rookie Andy Borregales.

Now, in the second bout, this one is for what Vrabel called a "championship" week.

"We’ve got a chance to face them head-to-head," Maye said. "I mean, there’s no better way to win the division than with the team that’s fighting to crawl back and to keep themselves as division champs. So, it’s opportunity for us to do it here, do it versus them and control your own destiny."

The Patriots Have Already "Won" 2025

Who could have imaged that New England would rattle off 10 wins in a row, or even win 10 games at all? From the free agency spending spree that equated to premier defensive talent (Milton Williams, Harold Landry, Robert Spillane) to a draft class looking to set the standard (Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson, Craig Woodson), 2025 has been good to the Patriots.

Nov 9, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New England Patriots running back Treveyon Henderson (32) walks off field following a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

But again, this team was projected somewhere in the range of six to eight wins before the season kicked off. Whether they conclude the year holding up the Lombardi Trophy, or sputter out and lose in the AFC Wild Card game on the road, it doesn't really matter.

This was a foundational year, once thought of to be one full of growing pains. Instead, they've grown too tall and have since shattered the glass ceiling of expectations.

Hardware of any kind, from a division crown to raising a Super Bowl banner in September, it just icing on the cake.

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