So many of the New England Patriots’ predecessors have fallen where they have succeeded. In this day and age, that ought to be applauded.
Somewhere in this football-loving nation, a monkey’s paw may have lowered a finger.
Football fans frustrated with the Midwestern monopoly the Kansas City Chiefs established saw their wishes come true in the most twisted way: the New England Patriots, Kansas City’s predecessors in the AFC throne, wrapped up a speedy rebuild with a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the conference title game last weekend.
The Patriots went but seven years between Super Bowl appearances, ending what was no doubt an agonizing stretch for Boston and beyond. They’ll play for their seventh Super Bowl title against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday evening (6:30 p.m. ET, NBC), and a win will break a tie for the most with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It’s the completion of what stands as one of football’s speediest rebuilds, as the Patriots needed just those seven years to work through the departure of two franchise legends, the arrival and departure of a false messiah at both quarterback and head coach, before finding the apparent right names in those respective spots on the road back to the Big Game.
Dawn of a new dynatsy?
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) January 25, 2026
The Pats are back in the Super Bowl 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ipqydrpZdT
“It’s a new team, it’s a new era,” newly-crowned franchise face and quarterback Drake Maye said after the win, per Khari A. Thompson of Boston.com. “I respect and appreciate what the Patriots dynasty did, and unfortunately they didn’t come out with some wins [in Denver], but we changed that narrative and look forward to bringing our best football for [the Super Bowl].”
It’s probably for the best that Maye and Co. are separating themselves from the ghosts of Patriots past … God knows the rest of the football world already has.
Why New England Deserves Credit
The common perception around the newest bits of Patriot prowess has been that New England hasn’t earned it. Glancing at their ledgers, it’s indeed somewhat fair to say that New England did fatten up on junk food: of their 14 regular season wins, eight came against teams that fired their coach, six came against a team that finished last in its division … and two came against the New York Jets. The playoffs were equally fortuitous, as their AFC title game win lacked both Denver starting quarterback Bo Nix (with would-be Brady successor Jarrett Stidham) and good fourth quarter weather.
Through it all, however, what are the Patriots if not the personification of every trope of perseverance the game has established?
Mike Vrabel’s journey to Super Bowl LX. pic.twitter.com/mlbHOPhp2G
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) February 3, 2026
How did New England build its previous dynasty? Like many champions before them, the Patriots thrived upon doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well. Handle business against subpar divisional competition? Check. Take advantage of an opponent in distress? Nailed it. These Patriots simply paid the finest tribute to their predecessors
The game has always been about seeing the greatest engage in such antics. It shouldn’t change just because of (admittedly understandable in some cases) New England fatigue. This isn’t college football, where certain games can be picked, or even bought, to the liking of the contender.
“That’s just mind-boggling to me, in the National Football League, that there be [an argument about] strength of schedule,” New England head coach Mike Vrabel, a bridge between the prior Patriots dynasty and this potential next one, said in a November interview on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show.” “You got a salary cap. Everybody spends the same amount of money. So you guys know in this league, that that doesn’t really mean anything.”
“My message has been the same every week,” Vrabel continued. “We have to put everything that we have into each week, and that everybody has to prepare as a starter. I love our practices and the way that we compete, and then you go and play the game.”
How The Patriots Did It
Vrabel’s work, as well as those of his assistants like coordinators Josh McDaniels and Terrell Williams in year one of their collaboration should be applauded, not buried over a sense of perceived jealousy in a return to the top. New England’s success has been built by a combination of newcomers and those who survived the relative dark times.
There’s a two-headed rushing attack in TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson. It’s perhaps hard to appreciate what top receiver Stefon Diggs has done in his first year until his legal issues are resolved but franchise quarterback Drake Maye has built an MVP case while working with complementary developmental options Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas.
Drake Maye is now the first QB from the coveted 2024 NFL Draft class to lead his team to the Super Bowl 🔥
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 26, 2026
The trajectory of this QB class 👀 pic.twitter.com/QZ2eCoNtqC
Maye has shared the love to the tune of 10 different men scoring at least one touchdown through the air. There wasn’t as much to fix on defense, but respective steps forward for homegrown projects like Christian Gonzalez, Anfernee Jennings, and Marcus Jones all hint that New England carries lasting power.
These all seem like mundane tasks in a game where two Super Bowl runs (one against what was arguably the greatest team of all-time) and becoming just the fourth head coach with at least 300 combined wins aren’t enough to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But in a league landscape now dominated by fades in goal-to-go situations and passing on three points that appear to become more automatic with each passing week, accomplishing the most with mundanity feels like something that should be celebrated.
Maybe that says more about where the league is in 2025, a somewhat cloudy spot that still proves reliably entertaining and powerful. But the Patriots found the best way to work with that and now they’re getting ready to potentially cash in on a jackpot.
Life gave them lemons … they made Gatorade.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
