Why the Patriots believe they’re on to something bigger than a surprise playoff bid

Drake Maye spilled the beans Just a little anyway In a press conference Wednesday Maye began to share what Mike Vrabel explained players this week about the buzz surrounding his return to Tennessee Ignore the noise was his short answer But then Maye kept going It s a challenge for us to go keep proving it week in and week out That s been our main focus he declared Keep going ignore the noise and know that if we keep playing like this we ll have a real shot once the playoffs come But that s a long way away so just attack it one week at a time It s a good time to remember Maye is a -year-old in his second NFL season and first as a captain He speaks more often on the Patriots behalf than anyone beside Vrabel Over dozens of press conferences and hours of taking questions from reporters Maye is bound to stray a little from typical quarterback speech AKA safe sanitized team-approved messaging There s no harm nor foul in that quote But the fact Maye took a community peek at the postseason in mid-October was unusually telling if we keep playing like this we ll have a real shot once the playoffs come That comment doesn t suggest Maye is aiming just to sneak into the dance That s says the Patriots plan to attend and take a turn in the middle of the floor to try a sparse moves with all eyes on them That indicates confidence and reveals expectations Right now the Patriots are - and leading their division having already collected a couple wins that on their own hinted at a franchise turning the corner Maye it seems feels they are on to something bigger than what outsiders expected of them and perhaps what they expected of themselves before the season He isn t alone in thinking the Patriots momentum could mean making particular noise come January Oh yeah Pats defensive tackle Milton Williams revealed this week Oh yeah New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams signals during an NFL challenge against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium on Sept Winslow Townson AP Images for Panini Williams of module knows how a playoff club looks and feels He won the Super Bowl last year in Philadelphia and like Maye also cautioned against looking too far ahead during the regular season Obviously we can only play who s on the schedule next Williams added You don t want to look too far into the future of what could happen with this and that Every week it s a new challenge it s a new level of camaraderie we need to get to in the encounter and make sure we execute and get the job done Once we win that challenge we celebrate it for a couple of hours and it s on to the next After the Patriots held off the Saints last weekend Vrabel had a curious message inside the locker room about turning the page Not so fast he noted Vrabel encouraged a association coming off consecutive four-win seasons a unit that should need no reminder to celebrate to indeed celebrate To enjoy its win We will never ever get to the point where we re not gonna celebrate expletive wins Vrabel noted as captured by a unit camera crew You hear me But I like where we re headed According to several players the reason Vrabel felt compelled to tell them to bask in their - escape from New Orleans was their body language coming off the field Williams and other veterans like Rhamondre Stevenson weren t satisfied with their performance and it indicated Even though the defense had held the Saints to three points after halftime and the Patriots largely controlled play that wasn t enough More signs of elevated expectations New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is pressured by Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau during the first half of an NFL football contest Sunday Sept in Orchard Park N Y AP Photo Adrian Kraus I like this gang I like where we re going Stevenson declared And just the relentlessness in all of us I feel like it s gonna take us into the playoffs Even for a group of individual self-believers turned collective overachievers Maye is the driving force behind the Patriots rising playoff hopes He s been spectacular ranking second in completion percentage fifth in passing yards and seventh in QBR among all starting quarterbacks He out-dueled Josh Allen the reigning MVP in primetime while leading his first game-winning drive Even in the eyes of those who trusted Maye s natural ability the kid has surprised I knew he was a good quarterback but seeing what he s doing now is like OK he s seemingly better than I thought ' Williams declared Like there s a couple of throws here and there but obviously he s a young contestant He s still coming into his own becoming a leader commanding the group getting the ball where he need to go But I mean he s really doing it He s really doing it Williams continued Our job on defense is to try to get the ball and give it back to him and let him go out there and make plays for us And I feel like that s the best strategy for us to win Maye is powering the the bulk dangerous part of the Patriots entire operation right now and the chief reason to back them as a expected playoff contender Year after year the the greater part effective passing teams waltz into the postseason Last year nine of the NFL s best passing offenses DVOA reached the playoffs including five of the top six Right now the Pats rank fourth by passing DVOA Their odds of clinching a postseason berth at particular sportsbooks are around with their upcoming soft schedule no doubt a factor But it goes beyond the numbers Stevenson suggested there s a grit about this company that starts with coaching and inspires a belief a positivity in pressurized moments He would know Coming off a season where he fumbled seven times Stevenson has already fumbled three times in six games Vrabel nonetheless stuck by him the bulk notably in the Pats upset at Buffalo when Stevenson rewarded that faith by scoring two rushing touchdowns in the second half Weeks earlier Stevenson also caught the longest pass of his career in the third quarter at Miami where the Patriots kept their cool to steal a roller-coaster contest for their first win in South Florida since before the COVID- pandemic Related Articles things we re watching in Patriots Week matchup with Titans Mike Vrabel happy to reunite with former Titans tight end on Patriots Patriots-Titans injury description Stefon Diggs questionable Calvin Ridley out Sunday Patriots receive promising news two days before Titans meeting Callahan The Patriots perfect business targets and other Week thoughts We re relentless Stevenson mentioned I think the whole band s gonna fight all four quarters no matter what s going on in the battle We re all in Stevenson also knows how even confident teams can stumble late in the season specifically offenses led by young quarterbacks In his rookie year the Patriots moved into the AFC s top seed in early December then lost three of their last four regular-season games and settled for a Wild Card berth Mac Jones fell apart with the rest of the offense and the Pats were obliterated at Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs So as high as the vibes are now and as much as the Pats might see a playoff bid within reach there s too much football to be played to make progress plans for January We ve just got to stay consistent Stevenson commented You know there are specific teams that start off very strong at the beginning fall off at the end So I think we just got to stay consistent and just keep getting wins and hopefully we can be that band in the playoffs And yet hope feels like too weak a word Because when the quarterback this good and a coach this proven both believe why shouldn t the rest of the crew As for Vrabel hours before Maye spilled his beans he dropped a couple of his own Wednesday during an answer that eventually landed on the Titans but started like this I would say that we ve done we ve put ourselves in a position to play meaningful playoff games Not that they aren t all meaningful but Quote of the Week Is that true Yeah sure of subject I did I mean I don t want to see anybody that shares a job with you get let go That s a tough feeling with family and school Whether it s in college or pro we re in the media every single day And there s a human element to this that I don t want to forget I just remember all those coaches or people that reached out after I was let go I think that that s pivotal because nobody texts when you lose they all text when you win So it s a good reminder Mike Vrabel on reaching out to his successor in Tennessee Brian Callahan who was fired on Monday