The New England Patriots looked a long way from respectability when they went 4-13 in each of the past two seasons.
Not many people predicted New England could be a playoff team this season.
It looks like a lot of people might be wrong about the Patriots.
Mike Vrabel is now running New England and apparently he doesn’t need a rebuilding season to restore order in Foxborough.
Vrabel is getting it done immediately, which was under display on the Sunday night stage when the Patriots recorded a 23-20 road victory over the Buffalo Bills.
New England is a very surprising 3-2, one win shy of matching those consecutive four-win campaigns before we even hit mid-October.
The loss was the first of the season for the Bills and left the NFL with no undefeated teams. The Denver Broncos defeated the Philadelphia Eagles earlier Sunday.
So you know what that means: the 1972 Miami Dolphins were popping champagne bottles and partying late into the night as they continue to be the only NFL team to have notched a perfect season.
That team had bulldozer fullback Larry Csonka and the famed “No-Name Defense” leading the way. These Patriots have an emerging force in quarterback Drake Maye, who held his own with reigning MVP Josh Allen of the Bills.
Maye, the No. third overall pick in the 2024 draft, was 22-of-30 passing for 273 yards and kept his cool while guiding his team to the winning field goal. Allen completed 22 of 31 passes for 253 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Maye, 23, is highly accurate and has completed better than 65 percent of his passes in all five games this season. Twice, he completed more than 82 percent of his throws.
He has thrown seven touchdown passes and been intercepted twice in 153 attempts this season. He has topped 200 yards passing in all five games.
What we are watching is somebody developing into a future standout quarterback. Many people had him pegged for stardom when he was at North Carolina and he appears right on schedule.
Or perhaps ahead of schedule if you listen to Stefon Diggs, the wideout who torched his former team with 10 receptions for 146 yards.
“I saw a young quarterback take a step in the right direction,” Diggs said afterward. “They did a lot of comparisons during the week, and I feel like it’s a helluva comparison to be compared to Josh Allen. But as you come into your own, Drake Maye has to be Drake Maye. I was just so proud of him coming in here and leading the team.”
Allen’s team committed three turnovers and 11 penalties while watching a 14-game home unbeaten streak end. The point total was Buffalo’s lowest of the season after it posted an average of 33.3 points over the first four games.
Allen said the Bills played “sloppy” and shouldn’t have even been in the game due to the turnovers. He did guide Buffalo to 10 fourth-quarter points to tie it before Andy Borregales booted the winning 52-yarder with 15 seconds left for the Patriots.
The Bills (4-1) still are the team to beat in the AFC East – they have won five straight division titles — but it should be noted they played four of their first five games at home this season.
Now comes a stretch where the Bills play seven of their next 10 games on the road. There will be some losses during that span and the return trip to New England on Dec. 14 will make for an interesting rematch.
Still, there is nothing that is going to prevent Buffalo from earning a seventh straight playoff berth. But another AFC East member ranking as a legitimate threat isn’t a bad thing.
We know the Dolphins (the 2025 ones) and the New York Jets aren’t going to scare the Bills. Only the Patriots have a chance to topple the Buffalo division dynasty.
And on this Sunday night, New England was better than the Bills. Something nobody saw coming.
This news was originally published on this post .
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