The snow falling in Denver during the AFC Championship felt like more than just a weather report - it was a reminder of how familiar this Patriots team is starting to look. Gritty, opportunistic, and just maybe, a little ahead of schedule.
As the Patriots kept stacking wins this season, the natural comparisons started rolling in - this team and the 2001 squad that shocked the world. Mike Vrabel, now the head coach and then a 25-year-old linebacker on that '01 team, has heard the questions.
That Patriots team had a second-year quarterback, a roster full of free agents, and a head coach in his second go-around. Sound familiar?
But Vrabel isn’t one to get lost in nostalgia. “We’ve certainly taken on an underdog role like that team did,” he said earlier this week. “I guess it’s interesting, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about comparisons.”
Still, the parallels are hard to ignore.
Back in 2001, the Patriots were 60-1 long shots. Belichick was still finding his footing.
Tom Brady was a second-year quarterback who had never started an NFL game before that season. And yet, that group clicked - a collection of overlooked veterans and rising stars who found their identity at exactly the right time.
Fast forward to now, and you’ve got Drake Maye - a second-year quarterback who’s taken a major leap under the familiar guidance of Josh McDaniels. Maye finished as the MVP runner-up to Matthew Stafford, and while his numbers haven’t lit up the scoreboard in the postseason, he’s shown the kind of poise and command that’s rare for a 23-year-old.
This Patriots team wasn’t supposed to be here yet. But they took advantage of a favorable regular-season schedule, then capitalized on a key injury to Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in the AFC title game. And now, they’re one win away from a Super Bowl title.
Former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi - one of the emotional leaders of that 2001 team - understands why people want to draw the line between then and now. But he’s quick to pump the brakes.
“That year’s team was the standard,” Bruschi said. “We didn’t have the most talent, but we found ways to win, and that became a part of what we were going forward.”
That “standard” was built on defense. The 2001 team leaned heavily on its veteran additions - Roman Phifer, Bryan Cox, Anthony Pleasant, Terrell Buckley, Larry Izzo - and a rookie named Richard Seymour, who would go on to become one of the franchise’s all-time greats. And of course, Vrabel, who carved out a reputation as one of the smartest, toughest players on the field.
That team didn’t blow teams out in the postseason either. They averaged just 20 points per game during their Super Bowl run - only two more than this year’s Patriots, who are sitting at 18.
And back then, the defense and special teams chipped in 21 of the team’s 60 playoff points. This year’s squad has gotten seven of its 54 points from defense or special teams.
It wasn’t flashy. It was just enough.
Brady, at 24, led a game-winning drive in the final 90 seconds of Super Bowl XXXVI. Maye, 23, is now trying to become the youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl. And those who know him best say he’s built for the moment.
“They’re like basketball players who want the ball in the fourth quarter,” said McDaniels, who was a fresh-faced personnel assistant back in 2001, snapping still shots from the press box during games.
Now, he’s back in Foxborough, helping guide Maye through the most important stretch of his young career. And while McDaniels isn’t in the business of comparing quarterbacks - especially not to Brady - he didn’t hold back when talking about Maye’s growth.
“I trust him implicitly in every situation,” McDaniels said. “If the game’s on the line - we’ve had a few opportunities this year - we’ve always gotten his best football.
So if that happens in the Super Bowl, it means that you’re part of an incredible game and you’re fortunate to have the opportunity to win it in that fashion. I would look forward to it, and I’m sure he would too.”
For all the talk about Maye, the Patriots know they’ll need more than just quarterback play to beat the Seahawks. Seattle boasts the league’s best run defense, and New England would love to replicate the ground success they had in their Super Bowl win over the Rams, when they averaged 5.3 yards per carry. But if that’s not there, they’ll have to find another way.
That’s been the story of this team all season - adapting, adjusting, surviving.
On defense, the Patriots have found their own version of that 2001 cast of misfits and veterans. Milton Williams, Harold Landry III, Carlton Davis, and Robert Spillane have become the backbone of a unit that’s found its rhythm at just the right time.
And they’re not shying away from the moment.
“Vrabel gives us a lot of confidence,” Williams said. “He’s done it before, he knows what it takes to win these games, and we have believed in each other since Day 1. It didn’t come together until we beat Buffalo in Week 5, but we have only lost one game since then.
“No one is going to be surprised here when we win another game.”
Confidence. Belief.
Timing. It’s starting to feel familiar in Foxborough.