So far through three playoff games, there’s been a lot of talk about the challenges each of the Patriots’ opponents brought to the table, and less about a New England team that just won three straight to land in the Super Bowl.
Over that stretch, not much has been made about the Patriots. Their defense wasn’t in the discussion with the Chargers, Texans, or Broncos groups, who all garnered a lot of attention ahead of each match-up.
Instead, it was New England’s defense that held all three opponents to a combined total of just 26 points, including just seven by Denver this past weekend. They’ve forced multiple turnovers, made life miserable on opposing quarterbacks, and have come up with big stops in key moments.
They’ve stepped up and made the plays they’ve needed to, which is a big reason why they’ve gotten to this point. It’s also why those other three teams will join the rest of the country in watching them play one week from Sunday.
Meanwhile, their next opponent is a Seattle team that put up 41 against the 49ers, and then scored 31 against the Rams to win the NFC Championship hours after the Patriots advanced. That’s again led to questions about how good Vrabel’s team really is, along with critics talking about how lucky they are to even be here.
Stephen A. Smith recently made his thoughts about Vrabel’s club clear. He believes the Patriots’ defense might be better than people are giving them credit for, but he doesn’t see them beating the Seahawks.
“I’m snoring. I’m sleeping on them bigtime,” said Smith of the Patriots. “Ya’ll ain’t winning the Super Bowl, I’m telling you to your face right now as a New England Patriot (to former CB Jason McCourty). You ain’t beating Seattle. Let me tell you something right now. The New England Patriots, listen, it was a nice run. It was really, really nice.”
“It’s going to be a competitive Super Bowl, I have no doubt, because the defense is real. The New England Patriots defense is real. I got big-time questions about your offense. Never mind that you had the easiest schedule since the 1999 Rams. Never mind that you went against a Los Angeles Chargers squad that didn’t have a couple of offensive linemen. Never mind that you went against a Houston Texans team that was anemic offensively to begin with, but then you played the game without Nico Collins, and [Dalton] Schultz had to go down, okay? Never mind the fact that a blizzard came to your aid in the second half [in Denver] And by the way, you didn’t have to go up against Bo Nix, who broke his ankle.”
That seems to be a common sentiment, that the Patriots are just fortunate to be getting ready to head out to Santa Clara.
Vrabel’s defense is about to face a tough challenge in two weeks against the Seahawks, who have certainly put together two straight terrific offensive showings to get to this point. That’s been the narrative so far and during his weekly appearance on WEEI on Tuesday on The Greg Hill Show, Vrabel was asked whether or not his players are playing with a chip on their shoulder as they get set to take on Seattle.
“However they have to get ready to play the football game, that’s all I care about,” said Vrabel.
But in his response to co-host Courtney Cox’s question about whether or not he felt like his guys have been disrespected, Vrabel was quick to shoot that notion down, adding that the noise doesn’t bother himself, nor his players.
The reason? Because unlike 30 other teams, his managed to be among the final ones still standing.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re in the Super Bowl, Courtney,” said Vrabel. “We can pump this thing up for 10 days. We’re all compensated very well for what we do. So I don’t think there’s any disrespect from this building or my appreciation for our football team. It doesn’t bother me.”
Host Greg Hill then asked, “You know who’s not in the Super Bowl?” while taking a jab at Courtney’s favorite team, the Steelers.
“All the 30 other teams,” joked Vrabel.
Vrabel on Avoiding Distractions: “We’ll keep them engaged”
It will be an important two weeks for his football team. Having been through it, he knows the hype that accompanies this game and the distractions they’ll have to avoid. It will be hard to ignore, given that they’ll be in the national spotlight until the game is finally played, leading to an explosion of discussion on social media until they finally settle it on the field.
Vrabel acknowledged that he’s aware players will be on their phones, but he went on to say that the coaching staff is focused on keeping them engaged and focused.
“We’ll have to have a plan, and we’ll get them ready,” said Vrabel. “We’ll coach them. We’ll keep them engaged when we get out there. And again, we’ve enjoyed this thing, and they have to continue to enjoy it, but there’s boundaries to that.”
The goal now is to ensure the team remains “sound, but also aggressive” in their game plan, channeling all their energy away from the outside narratives and towards the task at hand.
Producer Chris Curtis noted that Devin McCourty recently pointed out that Bill Belichick would even take the halftime show into consideration, putting a plan together for players and staff to make the most of it.
Vrabel said, given how many times his former club had been to the postseason, he’ll take everything into account as he tries to prepare his own team for their final game of this 2025 campaign.
“I would consider doing anything. You know what I mean?” said Vrabel on the halftime preparation. “It’s a little bit longer, 25 minutes or whatever it is. Normal is 13. So again, I guess those are things that we always have to consider. And nobody got more practice at it than the people that have been here in this building. So we’ll try to do everything we can.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
