BALTIMORE — Mike Vrabel shook his head before the end of the question, an inquiry on the heels of a 28-24 win over the Ravens on what it meant for the first-year head coach to have rebuilt the playoff-bound Patriots so quickly.
Vrabel wasn’t ready for any big celebration. “We’re going to try to win the division,” Vrabel said in response to the Pats clinching a postseason spot for the first time since 2021.
What was most striking about a Patriots win that punctuated one of the biggest turnarounds the NFL has seen in recent years is how limited the festivities were that accompanied it.
Vrabel inherited a four-win team. The Patriots were a mess. The roster wasn’t any good.
So, you’d think, a playoff berth clinched and a 12-3 record courtesy of a thrilling come-from-behind win would elicit some well-deserved partying. If not champagne, at least some loud music and extra hugs.
Instead, the scene Sunday night after a riveting game felt like business as usual. An 11th win in their last 12 games? A 7-0 record on the road this season? An MVP candidate at quarterback? Ho-hum.
“We’re going to focus on that and just take it one day at a time,” Vrabel said of wanting to win the division rather than celebrating the playoff spot.
Aspects of this win perfectly encapsulate how Vrabel has pulled off the unthinkable, taking the Patriots from the cellar of the NFL standings to the playoffs before Week 17 even begins. Entering Sunday, only eight teams had generated fewer turnovers than the Patriots defense. So before such an important game against a well-coached team, he stressed the importance of ball disruption.
Practices began the same way for members of the defense: with a drill focused on punching the ball out. As ball carriers ran, defenders had to work on perfectly timing a fumble-forcing punch. Over and over again, all week.
Then, Sunday night, the Ravens got the ball back after Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had just led an incredible go-ahead drive. Two minutes remaining, Pats up four. Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers caught a pass and turned upfield. What he didn’t see was New England linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson chasing him. Chaisson wound up and punched the ball perfectly, freeing it from Flowers’ grasp. The Patriots recovered. Ballgame.
CHAISSON FORCES THE FUMBLE.
NEvsBAL on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/k1qFLyors9— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2025
It’s a small thing, and maybe you could argue it would’ve happened regardless of the practices this week. But it’s also an example of how every lever Vrabel is pulling this season is working as he has totally reshaped the Patriots after back-to-back four-win seasons.
“I think it’s top down,” Maye said of how this turnaround happened. “It’s coach Vrabel coming in here, it’s the coaching staff he hired, it’s the guys buying in and believing in what we do. That’s the biggest thing. Believing in what the coach is saying and believing in our identity and carrying it with us.”
Vrabel has made a habit of waiting for players outside the locker room after games. He wants them to see him after coming off the field, ready to offer congratulations or lift their spirits. Usually, it’s a handshake or hug before each player heads into the locker room.
But when right tackle Morgan Moses arrived Sunday night in Baltimore, Vrabel embraced him and leaned in. He spoke softly to Moses so others couldn’t hear him. But it’s not hard to guess what Vrabel was telling him.
Moses suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. He was termed questionable to return, but it didn’t look like he would as he paced the sideline with a limp. The next quarter, while Moses remained sidelined, his backup, Thayer Munford, also suffered a knee injury. The Pats were nearly out of options, especially with rookie left tackle Will Campbell already out. It got to the point that right guard Mike Onwenu was wondering if he’d have to shift to tackle.
But Moses, even though he clearly wasn’t 100 percent, went back into the game when Munford got hurt. He wasn’t perfectly healthy, but he played through the pain to help his team.
In a lot of ways, it was exactly what Vrabel has asked for. Team over self. Next man up. That’s how, on a night eight Patriots players suffered injuries, the team was able to overcome it.
“That’s a group effort,” Vrabel said. “One, it’s on the players that go in there. Two, the training staff to work hard and evaluate guys. And then the coaching staff figured out what packages we could still get into.”
A year ago, it would’ve been unthinkable for the Patriots to be sitting at 12-3, already guaranteed a playoff berth before Christmas. At that point, they were on the doorstep of another coaching change, mired in a rebuild that was taking too long.
With Vrabel, everything changed. Goals are higher now. That’s why, even if this organization has plenty of reasons to celebrate clinching a playoff spot, there was no big party here Sunday night.
“I’m proud to be your coach,” Vrabel told his team after the game. “But we’ve got a long way to go.”
