The New England Patriots are back in the thick of it-and not just as a feel-good story. At 11-2, with four games left in the regular season, this team is looking more and more like a legitimate contender, not just a team ahead of schedule in a rebuild.
For the first time since the Tom Brady era, there’s a real sense of momentum in Foxborough-and it’s not built on nostalgia. It’s built on performance.
Drake Maye is at the center of it all. The second-year quarterback is doing things we haven’t seen in New England since No. 12 was carving up defenses.
He’s making throws that belong on highlight reels, sure, but more importantly, he’s commanding the offense with poise and precision. If he keeps this up, he’s not just in the MVP conversation-he might be leading it.
And then there’s Mike Vrabel, the former Patriot linebacker turned head coach who’s quickly proving he’s more than just a familiar face. Vrabel has this team playing disciplined, physical football on both sides of the ball.
He’s the odds-on favorite for Coach of the Year-and it’s not hard to see why. This would be the first time a Patriots coach has won the award since Bill Belichick took it home in 2010.
That’s a long time, and it underscores just how significant this turnaround is.
But this resurgence isn’t just about individual accolades. The Patriots are on the verge of breaking several long-standing droughts-some of which have hung over the franchise since Brady packed his bags for Tampa.
Let’s start with the obvious: a win this Sunday at home against the 9-4 Buffalo Bills would lock up a playoff berth for the first time in four years. That alone would be a major milestone for a team that’s spent the better part of the last half-decade trying to find its post-Brady identity. But that’s not all that’s on the table.
A win over Buffalo would also clinch the AFC East title for the first time in six years. That’s right-six seasons without a division crown, after owning the East for two decades. This game is more than just a playoff clincher; it’s a chance for New England to reassert its dominance in a division that’s been ruled by Josh Allen and the Bills in recent years.
And speaking of Allen, there’s one more streak the Patriots can snap this weekend: the season sweep. New England hasn’t swept Buffalo since the Brady days.
In fact, the Bills have pulled off two sweeps of their own in the last six years, including one in 2022. A win this Sunday would give the Patriots a clean 2-0 mark against Buffalo this season-something they haven’t done since the days of J.P.
Losman and Trent Edwards were under center for the Bills.
Let’s be real: sweeping this version of the Bills, led by a perennial MVP candidate in Allen, would be a far more impressive feat than anything from the early 2000s. This isn’t the same old Buffalo team.
They’re physical, explosive, and well-coached. Beating them twice in a season would send a message-not just to the AFC East, but to the entire league.
Now, if the Patriots can’t get it done on Sunday, the path to the playoffs doesn’t disappear. There are still scenarios where they can clinch a postseason berth in Week 15. If both the 8-5 Houston Texans (who host the 3-10 Arizona Cardinals) and the 8-5 Indianapolis Colts (who travel to face the 10-3 Seattle Seahawks) lose, New England is in, regardless of their own result.
But let’s be honest-no one in Foxborough wants to back into the playoffs. Not Vrabel.
Not Maye. Not this team that’s worked too hard to leave its fate in the hands of others.
They want to punch their own ticket. And they’ve got the chance to do it, at home, against a division rival, with everything on the line.
This isn’t just a big game. It’s a statement opportunity. And if the Patriots deliver, the rest of the league is going to have to start taking them very seriously.