Ten games into the season, the Patriots have successfully sacked the skeptics.
They’ve put a sock in the mouths of detractors who’ve been hesitant to jump on the bandwagon and concede they’re a legitimate contender.
If you’re still not sold, doubt them at your own peril.
Because all they do is win. Bad teams. Good teams. Bad quarterbacks. Good quarterbacks. They don’t discriminate. They just win.
At every turn, at every checkpoint over the past two months, the Patriots have delivered.
With Sunday’s 28-23 win over the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they’ve pulled off seven straight wins.
And, they beat another contender in the process.
This isn’t about having a soft schedule. It’s not about benefitting from injuries, or another team’s bad luck.
It’s about Mike Vrabel transforming the Patriots from an afterthought, to a team that not only shouldn’t be taken lightly, but should be feared.
It’s about having a stud second-year quarterback in Drake Maye, and it’s about a team-wide belief in having something special on the sideline and in the locker room.
The Patriots are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Knocking off both Buffalo and Tampa, sitting atop the division with an 8-2 record, and being in the upper echelon of the AFC, validates that claim.
Maybe they snuck up on the Bills five weeks ago, but the Buccaneers knew exactly what they were up against.
“We’ve got to take it on the chin,” Tampa coach Todd Bowles said following his team’s loss. “Give [Patriots Head Coach Mike] Vrabel and the Patriots the credit – they did a heck of a job at doing the things they needed to do. Their players made plays, our players did not.”
The Patriots are now 5-0 on the road. With Buffalo’s loss, they have a two-game advantage over the Bills in the AFC East putting them in the driver’s seat. The past two months, they’ve met every challenge.
What more proof is needed?
“We’re a hungry team. We’re a young team. We’re a team with a lot of chips on their shoulders,” linebacker Robert Spillane said following the win. “We still feel like we have so much left to prove. We have yet to play our best football game as a team, as a defense … so that taste in our mouths keeps us coming back for more.”
At the outset, there was plenty of interest how they would fare against the Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield in particular.
Mayfield has been in the MVP conversation with Maye, KC’s Patrick Mahomes and others.
The 2018 first overall pick has a flair for the dramatic, leading the Bucs in many comeback wins.
After he deftly moved Tampa to an opening score in six plays, that set the initial tone. The Buccaneers, coming off a bye, were ready to put the surprising Patriots in their place.
It didn’t happen. Instead, the Patriots humbled Mayfield and the Buccaneers as the sledding got much tougher for Mayfield after that first series.
Mayfield did keep the Bucs in the game, but the Patriots kept making plays in the end. The defense refused to break.
“I’m proud of how we got some crucial stops late down the stretch. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Spillane said. “We knew it was going to take fourth quarter. We knew Baker (Mayfield) loves to fight back in these games. I’m just proud of how we finished.”
So was Vrabel.
Under the leadership of the three-time Super Bowl winner, the Patriots are well-coached, play with an intelligence that’s befitting of their leader, and refuse to be swayed by misfortune.
“I always love the fight, that’s why I love coaching them – it’s [because] they fight and they compete,“ Vrabel said following the win. ”It’s not always perfect, it’s never going to be perfect, but I love the way that they compete.”
By his standards, Maye (16 for 31 for 270 yards, 2 TDs, 1 pick) didn’t have his best game, completing just 50 percent of his passes.
No matter. As has been the case all through the 8-game win streak, Maye was money when needed.
He was forced to weather a lot of hits thanks to the Bucs constant blitzing and pass rush. The Patriots quarterback still persevered.
“You’re going to get hit, and that’s this league,” Maye said. “I’m going to stand in there and make throws. That’s football.”
He was without his most trusted downfield threat, Kayshon Boutte, who missed the game with a hamstring injury, but that didn’t stop him from heaving it deep, and connecting.
After starting the game 2-for-7, Maye got rolling before the half. He kept his explosive play streak going with completions of 72 (Kyle Williams), 54 (Mack Hollins) and 26 (DeMario Douglas) yards.
Rookie TreVeyon Henderson also had a breakout game, with touchdown runs of 55 and 69 yards.
Maye did throw an end zone pick, but it says a lot that the Patriots can overcome mistakes.
The past few years, mistakes would bury this team. Not now. Not with Vrabel running the show.
“Just every week we’re fighting. Some things aren’t going our way. We’re handling adversity, battling adversity,” Maye said. “The defense is stepping up. What a complete game. That’s what we said all week – show up for 60 minutes.
“This is a good football team. We knew if we got up, they’re going to come back, and they came marching back, and I’m just proud of the guys for standing up, especially our defense with the big stop. Man, I’m just proud of this team.”
They’re passing the eye test, and every other test. It’s real. It’s not a fluke.
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