Return of the Empire: The Patriots return to glory

A rebuild isn't supposed to be this quick.

Once Tom Brady left the New England Patriots after the 2019 season, New England was expected to need some time to find it's way back to relevence. Sure seasons of Cam Newton, Brian Hoyer, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe were hard to stomach.

Even in Drake Maye's first season and the departure of Bill Belichick, many wondered how long it would take for the Patriots to contend again. But nobody expected it to be in the first season under head coach Mike Vrabel.

Sure, you could expect an improvement from the back-to-back 4-13 campaigns but the Patriots weren't going to take the AFC East from the Bills.

But they did, winning 23-20 in Buffalo and holding the tiebreaker over them for the division.

But surely there would be a speed bump in the playoffs. Yet time and again, the Patriots proved that not every rebuild is the same.

So what changed? Surely it wasn't just the change in leadership that got the Patriots back to the promise land and a step away from breaking the record they share with Pittsburgh for the most Super Bowl wins in NFL History.

Well that has been a part of it.

The story starts in the 2024 NFL Draft where the Patriots selected Drake Maye third overall. The 6 foot 4, 223 pound quarterback came out of the University of North Carolina.

In two years as the Tar Heels starter, Maye posted a 17-9 record, going 618-952 for 8,018 yards with 63 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and 154.1 passer rating.

Just before the draft, the Patriots also traded quarterback Mac Jones, who was also a first round pick, to the Jacksonville Jaguars. That opened a path for Maye to be a starter.

But Maye wasn't even the only quarterback that the Patriots took in that years draft. They also added Joe Milton out of Tennessee, with both making the opening day 53 man roster.

However, Maye was the only bright spot of that draft class, as none of the other players selected are on the Patriots current depth chart.

The Patriots did make some moves in free agency as well. Players like running back Antonio Gibson and tight end Austn Hooper were added on the offensive end and Jaylinn Hawkins came in on the defensive end.

Despite being a top five pick and the organization in dire needs for a face lift at the quarterback position, first year head coach Jerod Mayo announced that Jacoby Brissett was the starter for the season.

Brissett had been a serviceable back-up through his career, coming in and helping teams when they had injuries or were in a rebuild.

It was actually Brissett's second stint with the Patriots, having been there in 2016, starting a game for the team while Brady served his suspension for Deflategate and Jimmy Garoppolo was injured.

But the second stint with the Patriots didn't go as well, with the Patriots going 1-4 in the first five game. Maye was named the starter before the game with the Houston Texans.

His first start wasn't anything to write home about, as Maye went 20-33 with 243 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the 41-21 loss.

Maye's first win came against the New York Jets in Week 8, 25-22. He was only 3-6 in the game, missing a majority of the game with a concussion.

The first win where Maye played bell to bell was at Chicago in Week 12. He went 15-25 for 184 yards with a touchdown and interception.

His rookie year was solid enough, finishing with 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. 10 different receivers, including offensive lineman Vederian Lowe hauled in touchdowns.

Yet the Patriots were missing something. There were several different things that needed to be addressed, from the likes of defensive line depth, offensive line continuity when injuries arose, along with skill positions being at a low point were among the issues for the organization.

Running backs like Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson, tight end like Hooper and Hunter Henry and a myriad of receivers missed several games. The Patriots didn't have a 1,000 yard rusher or receiver in the 2024 campaign.

Something needed to change for New England.

They announced shortly after the season finale win against Buffalo, the firing of Mayo after one season.

Some coaching searches take weeks, others take a couple days. But as soon as the position was opened, there was one name that everyone and their mother knew that was going to take the Patriots job.

Mike Vrabel.

A three time Super Bowl champion with the team, Vrabel was named the head coach January 12. It was viewed as an instant boost to the defensive side of the ball.

Vrabel started as a linebacker and defensive line coach for the Ohio State University before being the linebackers coach of the Houston Texans in 2014-16 and then becoming their defensive coordinator in 2017. He then was named the head coach for the Tennessee Titas in 2019, going 54-45 in his time there. The defense only once was in the bottom half of the league in points allowed in his six years.

Four times under Vrabel's leadership the Titans made the playoffs, earining the top seed in the 2021 playoffs. The Titans were in the AFC conference championship game in the 2020 season, falling 35-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Yet Vrabel had a rotting relatioship with the higher ups in the organization and wanting to be able to work more with the GM when it comes to making roster deisions. But for a season, he went to the Cleveland Browns for a season as a coaching and personnel consultant, which baffled Cleveland fans and still does.

But once he took the job with New England, you felt the culture change. Terrell Williams, who has been a defensive line coach through his career took over as the defensive coordinator. Josh McDaniels also returned as the offensive coordinator, his third stint in the role, replacing Alex Van Pelt who went to the Los Angeles Rams as a senior offensive assistant.

The Patriots went to work, retaining Hawkins and Hooper as unrestricted free agents. But they also bolstered the defensive side.

Defensively, the Patriots brought in linebackers Harold Landry, Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens, defensive linemen Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga and cornerback Carlton Davis, all of which immedietly fit into the defensive scheme. Add in starter Craig Woodson at safety and that's seven impact players in Vrabel's first season at the helm he broght in.

The Patriots have tied for the second least points allowed at 17.3, tied with Houston, only trailing Seattle (17.1). They had only 35 sacks and 608 tackles, both of which were bottom 10 in the league. But when you add in the play of Christian Gonzalez, one of the top three corners in the leage, Davis, Hawkins and Woodson in the secondary, the Patriots back four have been the backbone of the team.

But the offense also got a boost. In free agency, the Patirots signed the receiving duo of Mack Hollins and Stefon Diggs to go with the offensive linemen pair of Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury. New England also drafted tackle Will Campbell, running back TreVeyon Henderson and receiver Kyle Williams.

The Patriots put a vote of confidence in Maye at the quarterback spot, putting experienced starters Josh Dobbs and Tommy DeVito around him with quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant, who followed Vrabel from Cleveland.

It was an up and down start for New England, losing two of their first three games. Contests with Las Vegas and Pittsburgh were within one score to show that the team was right there. All they needed was a confidence boosting win.

In week four, the Patriots took on the Carolina Panthers and got just that match-up. Maye went 14-17 with 203 yards and two touchdowns while the collective of him, Stevenson, Henderson and Gibson had 108 yards and three scores on the ground. Marcus Jones had an 87 yard punt return to add to the score while defensively, the Patriots were strong enough to limit the big gains and that showed the mentality that returned to the field.

This was the catalyst of a 10 game win streak, including Vrabel beating his former team 31-13 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The win streak was stopped by Buffalo in Week 15 after the Patriots bye week, 35-31, but a 28-24 win over Baltimore the following week locked them into the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Maye finished the season 354-492 with 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The trio of Henderson, Stevenson and Maye combined for 1,964 yards and 20 touchdowns. Receiving wise, Diggs eclipsed 1,000 yards with 1,013, while Hunter, Kayshon Boutte and Hollins all eclipsed 550 yards through the air.

When looking at their postseason run, nothing jumps off the page in the 16-3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, a 28-16 win over Houston and a 10-7 win over Denver.

But in the same way, that is exactly the Patriot Way.

When you think back to the years that the Patriots made runs during the Brady era, what was the underlying theme of the teams was their true strength? The defense.

Outside of Randy Moss, the best receivers were Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola with Rob Gronkowski being a great postseason player. And look at the contracts Brady had during his time with the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He never made more than $72 million on a deal, never breaking into the top five paid quarterbacks in the league. That allowed the team to surround him with talent across the board rather than having to adjust to being shackled with a major contract.

You look at this years iteration of the Patriots, they are the spitting image of those Brady teams of the past. Maye isn't in the conversation for the top 5 highest paid and are even across the board for the highest paid sides of the ball, investing $144 million on offense and $143 million on defense.

The New England area isn't unfamiliar with quick turn arounds. Look at the Boston Celtics going from 24 wins to hoisting the Larry O'Brein trophy.

The Patriot Way has been described as doing your job, being selfless and taking accountability for yourself while putting everything about the team over whatever you get as an individual.

What matters to the New England Patriots isn't who's the best. It's hoisting yet another banner at Gillette Stadium and adding another Lombardi Trophy in Foxborough.

If they bring that mentality to the Super Bowl, like they have all season, the Death Star reconstruction will be complete.