{"id":104629,"date":"2025-10-08T09:20:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=104629"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:20:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:20:10","slug":"patriots-redemption-colin-cowherd-calls-new-england-a-playoff-team-after-their-statement-win-over-the-bills-reigniting-debate-about-belichicks-rebuild-the-afc-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=104629","title":{"rendered":"PATRIOTS REDEMPTION: Colin Cowherd calls New England \u201ca playoff team\u201d after their statement win over the Bills, reigniting debate about Belichick\u2019s rebuild, the AFC landscape, and whether the Pats might just be back from the dead…ll"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NFL<\/p>\n

The New England Patriots continued their hot start under Mike Vrabel in Week 5, pulling off a stunning 23-20 upset win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football.<\/p>\n

At 3-2, the Patriots are off to their best start in six years. With one more victory, they\u2019ll match their win total from each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

New England has improved dramatically on both sides of the ball under Vrabel. After ranking 30th in scoring and 22nd in points allowed last year, the Patriots rank above average in both categories this season.<\/p>\n

While the personnel are better and Drake Maye has taken a significant leap in Year 2, much of the improvement stems from having Vrabel at the helm. After winning three Super Bowls as a linebacker for New England and a Coach of the Year award with the Tennessee Titans, the 50-year-old knows what it takes to win and how to be a great head coach.<\/p>\n

On Monday\u2019s episode of \u201cThe Herd,\u201d Colin Cowherd praised Vrabel for fixing the Patriots\u2019 culture and transforming them into a playoff-caliber team overnight.<\/p>\n

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“They check all the boxes a playoff team does: Toughness, resilient, can win on the road, excellent young quarterback”@colincowherd is impressed with how quickly Mike Vrabel has changed the Patriots culture pic.twitter.com\/upMEIRcrU9<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheHerd\/status\/1975254168945500178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1975254168945500178%7Ctwgr%5Eda5614f9fe4b2daf8f928d5d69df2aab71d7a7ad%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnesn.com%2F2025%2F10%2Fcolin-cowherd-calls-patriots-a-playoff-team-after-statement-win-vs-bills%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cThis game was about the culture that Mike Vrabel has built and about Drake Maye, now with a legitimate head coach, quickly becoming a franchise star,\u201d Cowherd said.<\/p>\n

There was a clear difference between Sunday\u2019s game versus New England\u2019s previous trip to Buffalo last December under Jerod Mayo. The Patriots raced out to a two-touchdown lead but collapsed in the second half, committing three turnovers and allowing the Bills to rally and win by a field goal.<\/p>\n

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This time around, there was no collapse by New England, which won on a last-minute field goal.<\/p>\n

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With Vrabel leading the way, Cowherd believes the Patriots look like a playoff team this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween Josh McDaniels, the culture, Vrabel, the intelligence, this team\u2019s a playoff team,\u201d Cowherd said. \u201cThey check all the boxes a playoff team does. Toughness, resilient, can win on the road, excellent young quarterback, they\u2019ve spent their money in the right places.\u201d<\/p>\n

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New England still has a long way to go, but Vrabel clearly has the team moving in the right direction again.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colin Cowherd believes Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots are a playoff team after their huge win over the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":104634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nPATRIOTS REDEMPTION: Colin Cowherd calls New England \u201ca playoff team\u201d after their statement win over the Bills, reigniting debate about Belichick\u2019s rebuild, the AFC landscape, and whether the Pats might just be back from the dead...ll - NEWS USA<\/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:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=104629\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PATRIOTS REDEMPTION: Colin Cowherd calls New England \u201ca playoff team\u201d after their statement win over the Bills, reigniting debate about Belichick\u2019s rebuild, the AFC landscape, and whether the Pats might just be back from the dead...ll - 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