{"id":35761,"date":"2025-10-18T11:38:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T11:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35761"},"modified":"2025-10-18T11:38:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T11:38:56","slug":"breaking-why-the-patriots-believe-theyre-on-to-something-bigger-than-a-surprise-playoff-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35761","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Why the Patriots believe they\u2019re on to something bigger than a surprise playoff bid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Drake Maye spilled the beans.<\/p>\n

Just a little, anyway.<\/p>\n

In a press conference Wednesday, Maye began to share what Mike Vrabel told players this week about the buzz surrounding his return to Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Ignore the noise was his short answer.<\/p>\n

But then, Maye kept going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge for us to go keep proving it week in and week out. That\u2019s been our main focus,\u201d he said. \u201cKeep going, ignore the noise and know that if we keep playing like this, we\u2019ll have a real shot once the playoffs come, But that\u2019s a long way away, so just attack it one week at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good time to remember Maye is a 23-year-old in his second NFL season and first as a captain. He speaks more often on the Patriots\u2019 behalf than anyone beside Vrabel. Over dozens of press conferences, and hours of taking questions from reporters, Maye is bound to stray a little from typical quarterback speech, AKA safe, sanitized, team-approved messaging.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no harm, nor foul in that quote.<\/p>\n

But the fact Maye took a public peek at the postseason in mid-October was unusually telling.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 if we keep playing like this, we\u2019ll have a real shot once the playoffs come.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That comment doesn\u2019t suggest Maye is aiming just to sneak into the dance. That\u2019s says the Patriots plan to attend, and take a turn in the middle of the floor to try a few moves with all eyes on them.<\/p>\n

That indicates confidence, and reveals expectations.<\/p>\n

Right now, the Patriots are 4-2 and leading their division, having already collected a couple wins that on their own hinted at a franchise turning the corner. Maye, it seems, feels they are on to something bigger than what outsiders expected of them \u2014 and perhaps what they expected of themselves \u2014 before the season. He isn\u2019t alone in thinking the Patriots\u2019 momentum could mean making some noise come January.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah,\u201d Pats defensive tackle Milton Williams said this week. \u201cOh yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Why
New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams signals during an NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 7. (Winslow Townson\/AP Images for Panini)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Williams, of course, knows how a playoff team looks and feels. He won the Super Bowl last year in Philadelphia and, like Maye, also cautioned against looking too far ahead during the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we can only play who\u2019s on the schedule next,\u201d Williams added. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to look too far into the future of what could happen with this and that. Every week, it\u2019s a new challenge, it\u2019s a new level of camaraderie we need to get to in the game and make sure we execute and get the job done. Once we win that game, (we) celebrate it for a couple of hours, and it\u2019s on to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Patriots held off the Saints last weekend, Vrabel had a curious message inside the locker room about turning the page.<\/p>\n

Not so fast, he said.<\/p>\n

Vrabel encouraged a team coming off consecutive four-win seasons, a team that should need no reminder to celebrate, to, indeed, celebrate. To enjoy its victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never, ever get to the point where we\u2019re not gonna celebrate (expletive) wins, Vrabel said, as captured by a team camera crew. \u201cYou hear me? But I like where we\u2019re headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to several players, the reason Vrabel felt compelled to tell them to bask in their 25-19 escape from New Orleans was their body language coming off the field. Williams and other veterans, like Rhamondre Stevenson, weren\u2019t satisfied with their performance, and it showed. Even though the defense had held the Saints to three points after halftime, and the Patriots largely controlled play, that wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

More signs of elevated expectations.<\/p>\n

\"Why
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) is pressured by Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau (50) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo\/Adrian Kraus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI like this team. I like where we\u2019re going,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cAnd just the relentlessness in all of us, I feel like it\u2019s gonna take us (into the playoffs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Even for a group of individual self-believers turned collective overachievers, Maye is the driving force behind the Patriots\u2019 rising playoff hopes. He\u2019s been spectacular, ranking second in completion percentage, fifth in passing yards and seventh in QBR among all starting quarterbacks. He out-dueled Josh Allen, the reigning MVP, in primetime while leading his first game-winning drive.<\/p>\n

Even in the eyes of those who trusted Maye\u2019s natural ability, the kid has surprised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew he was a good quarterback, but seeing what he\u2019s doing now is like, \u2018OK, he\u2019s probably better than I thought,’\u201d Williams said. \u201cLike, there\u2019s a couple of throws here and there, but obviously he\u2019s a young player. He\u2019s still coming into his own, becoming a leader, commanding the group, getting the ball where he need to go. But I mean, he\u2019s really doing it. He\u2019s really doing it.<\/p>\n

Williams continued: \u201cOur job on defense is to try to get the ball and give it back to him, and let him go out there and make plays for us. And I feel like that\u2019s the best strategy for us to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye is powering the most dangerous part of the Patriots\u2019 entire operation right now and the chief reason to back them as a potential playoff contender. Year after year, the most effective passing teams waltz into the postseason. Last year, nine of the NFL\u2019s 12 best passing offenses DVOA reached the playoffs, including five of the top six.<\/p>\n

Right now, the Pats rank fourth by passing DVOA.<\/p>\n

Their odds of clinching a postseason berth at some sportsbooks are around 75%, with their upcoming soft schedule no doubt a factor. But it goes beyond the numbers.<\/p>\n

Stevenson suggested there\u2019s a grit about this team that starts with coaching and inspires a belief, a positivity, in pressurized moments. He would know.<\/p>\n

Coming off a season where he fumbled seven times, Stevenson has already fumbled three times in six games. Vrabel nonetheless stuck by him, most notably in the Pats\u2019 upset at Buffalo, when Stevenson rewarded that faith by scoring two rushing touchdowns in the second half. Weeks earlier, Stevenson also caught the longest pass of his career in the third quarter at Miami, where the Patriots kept their cool to steal a roller-coaster game for their first win in South Florida since before the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re relentless,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cI think the whole team\u2019s gonna fight all four quarters no matter what\u2019s going on in the game. We\u2019re all in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevenson also knows how even confident teams can stumble late in the season, specifically offenses led by young quarterbacks. In 2021, his rookie year, the Patriots moved into the AFC\u2019s top seed in early December, then lost three of their last four regular-season games and settled for a Wild Card berth. Mac Jones fell apart with the rest of the offense, and the Pats were obliterated at Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

So as high as the vibes are now, and as much as the Pats might see a playoff bid within reach, there\u2019s too much football to be played to make travel plans for January.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to stay consistent,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cYou know, there are some teams that start off very strong at the beginning, fall off at the end. So, I think we just got to stay consistent and just keep getting wins, and hopefully we can be that team in (the playoffs).\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, hope feels like too weak a word. Because when the quarterback this good and a coach this proven both believe, why shouldn\u2019t the rest of the team?<\/p>\n

As for Vrabel, hours before Maye spilled his beans, he dropped a couple of his own Wednesday during an answer that eventually landed on the Titans but started like this: \u201cI would say that we\u2019ve done \u2013 we\u2019ve put ourselves in a position to play meaningful (playoff) games. Not that they aren\u2019t all meaningful, but \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Quote of the Week<\/h4>\n

\u201cIs that true? Yeah, sure, of course I did. I mean, I don\u2019t want to see anybody that shares a job with you get let go. That\u2019s a tough feeling with family and school. Whether it\u2019s in college or pro, we\u2019re in the media every single day. And there\u2019s a human element to this that I don\u2019t want to forget. I just remember all those coaches or people that reached out after I was let go. I think that that\u2019s important because nobody texts when you lose, they all text when you win. So, it\u2019s a good reminder.\u201d Mike Vrabel on reaching out to his successor in Tennessee, Brian Callahan, who was fired on Monday<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Patriots were expected to push for a playoff spot. Thanks to Drake Maye, those expectations have been raised, according to his teammates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[77,648,531,74,18,227,439,225,1045,226,440,532],"class_list":["post-35761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots","tag-drake-maye","tag-josh-mcdaniels","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-2025","tag-patriots-news","tag-patriots-rumors","tag-robert-kraft"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING : Why the Patriots believe they\u2019re on to something bigger than a surprise playoff bid - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35761\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Why the Patriots believe they\u2019re on to something bigger than a surprise playoff bid - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Patriots were expected to push for a playoff spot. 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