When the New England Patriots decided to move on from Jerod Mayo and hire Mike Vrabel as their new head coach just over a year ago, it put a bit of fear into Buffalo Bills fans. Since Tom Brady left the Patriots in 2020, the AFC East has belonged to the Bills. Sure, they at one point were battling the Dolphins in 2023 for the division, but the Patriots were no threat to them.
Well, little did fans know that the Patriots wouldn’t just immediately turn things around, no one expected them to not just win the division back from Buffalo, but now they are set to play in this Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Vrabel getting hired by the Patriots was the first step for New England to try and compete with Buffalo for the division. Then they decided to bring back Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator, after he had yet another bad head coaching tenure with the Raiders. McDaniels is a phenomenal playcaller, but him being a head coach has not worked out at all.
With Vrabel and McDaniels, the Patriots were able to look like the old-time Pats where they played physical and there were sparks on offense with Drake Maye under center. New England beat the Bills in Buffalo, and then were up on the Bills 24-3 in Week 15 of this past season. Had it not been for an ultimate collapse in the second half, the Patriots would have easily swept the Bills.
Bills' AFC East nightmare continues in NFL Honors
New England is officially the team to beat in the division, and the NFL Honors has proven it with both Vrabel and McDaniels winning awards.
McDaniels was announced as the AP Assistant Coach of the Year, per Ian Rapoport. Then Vrabel was announced as the AP Coach of the Year, per Adam Schefter.
So, not only do Bills fans have to watch the Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl, but now they have to watch their top two coaches win awards as well…it kind of feels like the Patriots could be on the first step of yet another dynasty.
With the Bills going in a new direction with their franchise with Joe Brady leading the way, fans are hoping that Brady can be the one that takes back the division from the Patriots and elevate the Bills to the next level that they have failed to reach in recent memory. For right now though, all that Bills fans can do is feel sick to their stomach seeing the Patriots have even more success.