It’s becoming commonplace for the New England Patriots to make history, and they’re doing it with young players. How far has it gone? The Patriots joined the Chiefs, Cowboys, and 49ers in NFL history with their stunning turnaround.
It looks like head coach Mike Vrabel has made quite an impact as the team has soared to a 9-2 start. They finished last year with a 4-13 mark, putting them in elite turnaround territory, according to ESPN.
“After finishing 4-13 in each of the past two seasons, the Patriots are just the fourth team in the past 25 years to win nine of their first 11 games after having four or fewer wins in the previous season, joining the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs, 2016 Dallas Cowboys, and 2019 San Francisco 49ers,” Mike Reiss wrote.
Nice job. So far.
Patriots riding the crest of a winning streak
Vrabel said the expectation has become winning. Therefore, it’s not a hope that guys like quarterback Drake Maye will be outstanding.
“I would say his performance, in general, has been what we expect,” Vrabel said. “We have high expectations for Drake. He has high expectations for himself. He'll continue to improve. I know that he'll stay humble through this all. We just have to continue to focus on the little things, operation, unforced errors throughout the offense. The only thing that really stops us is us offensively.”
Also, Maye’s teammates see and understand what he is doing. That includes the guys who protect him.
“He's playing at an elite level right now,” rookie left tackle Will Campbell said. “I'm biased, but I think he's the best player in the NFL. There's no game that we're out of when we have him.”
However, the Patriots have built their season on the backs of weaker teams. They lost to the Raiders and the Steelers early. Of course, the loss to the Raiders looks awful now. And their wins have come against the Dolphins, Panthers, Bills, Saints, Titans, Browns, Falcons, Buccaneers, and Jets. Beating the Bills and Buccaneers showed something, but the other wins aren’t anything great.
And their remaining schedule is also weak with the Bengals, Giants, Bills, Ravens, Jets, and Dolphins. There’s a chance the Patriots go into the playoffs as a mostly untested team.
