The New England Patriots orchestrated one of the quickest and most effective turnarounds in the history of sports during the 25-26 season. The team went from last place in the AFC East (4-13) and having the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to playing and losing in the Super Bowl in the span of 13 months. Let’s take a look back at the Patriots’ rapid ascension.
The rebound story of the Patriots began on Jan. 5, 2025, when the team had just taken down the Buffalo Bills at home in their final regular-season contest of the season. The game was meaningless to both teams in terms of the postseason, as Buffalo had already clinched their spot as the third seed in the playoffs, and the Patriots were eliminated from playoff contention. However, the game impacted the Patriots’ draft stock, and despite the team’s victory over a division rival, fans were outraged that they had lost the number one overall pick.
Just over an hour after the Patriots’ win over the Bills, the team put out a statement announcing the firing of head coach and former Patriots Linebacker Jerod Mayo. Mayo was the HC for just one season and led New England to just four wins. His firing was deserved, but shocking to most, solely based on the fact that it was only Mayo’s first year.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft later said it was one of the toughest choices he has ever made, but it turned out to be the right one. Just seven days later, the Patriots hired former Titans head coach and former Patriots Linebacker Mike Vrabel to be their new head coach. Though many didn’t know it yet, Kraft had just pulled off his best move since he gave up multiple draft picks to acquire Jets coach Bill Belichick in early 2000.
Vrabel got to work quickly, hiring Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator and Terrell Williams as his defensive coordinator. McDaniels was very familiar with the Patriots, as he had worked with the team from 2000 to 2008 and then again from 2012 to 2021, mostly as the team’s offensive coordinator, but also served in lower offensive positions earlier in his career. As for the defensive side of the ball, Williams was a first-time coordinator, but had plenty of experience coaching the defensive line. However, it wasn’t Williams who would end up being the Patriots’ most consequential defensive hire; it was inside linebacker coach Zak Kuhr. Kuhr took over calling plays in the spring and then again in week two when Williams was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He remained the play caller throughout the rest of the season.
One of the important parts of the Patriots’ turnaround was their stellar free agency class. They were met with success on nearly every single player that they signed. From their biggest signing, Defensive Tackle Milton Williams, to their smallest signings, Nose Tackle Kyhiris Tonga and Outside linebacker K’lavon Chaisson, all were successful. In the end, they got significant contributions not only from Milton Williams, but also from Robert Spillane, Stefon Diggs, Harold Landry, Khyiris Tonga, Morgan Moses, Garrett Bradbury, K’lavon Chaisson and Carlton Davis, who were all additions via free agency. It is rare for a team to spend as the Patriots did in free agency, and even more rare for it to work out the way it did.
While the team did land countless players in free agency, they missed out on one key position: left tackle. The team was going to try for Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley, but he re-signed with the Ravens ahead of free agency. With no other starting left tackles available on the free agent market, Vrabel and company devised a plan to handle what many call the second most important position on offense through the draft.
The consensus was that there were two “blue chip” talents in this draft, those players being Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado Cornerback/Wide Receiver Travis Hunter. Unfortunately for New England, they held the fourth pick, which meant that neither of those guys was going to fall to four. The guy who fell to four was LSU’s left tackle, Will Campbell. Campbell was universally considered a top-10 pick, but questions about his arm length arose throughout the pre-draft process. Campbell’s arms measured 32 ⅝ inches at the NFL scouting combine in March. The shortest arm length players generally played tackle with were considered to be 33-inch arms. Despite this, the Patriots turned in the card with the LSU tackle’s name on it.
The team hit on a few other picks on days two and three of the draft and even added two undrafted free agents, Efton Chism and Elijah Ponder, who played a part in the team’s success. In the end, the draft was a total hit for the Patriots and was one of the many reasons the team was as good as it was in 2025.
Ahead of the season, hopes were high that the Patriots were going to return to their glory days under head coach Mike Vrabel; however, following week one, most of those dreams were shattered. The Patriots took on the Raiders in their season opener and laid an egg. The offense looked sluggish and could not take advantage of the many opportunities they were given. The effort was not good enough, and the team dropped its first game of the season, losing by a score of 20-13.
Week two games are largely not considered “must-win;” however, for the Patriots, their week two matchup was considered just that. The game was a back-and-forth battle that ended with the Patriots winning against Tua Tagovailoa for the first time in franchise history. The game meant more than just a win in the win column; it sparked their “road warriors” mentality.
Through the following week, all of the team’s momentum was shattered, as the Patriots turned the football over five times in a brutal loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was not a pretty game, but wide receiver Stefon Diggs later mentioned it as motivation following the team’s win over the Broncos in the AFC Championship. New England was 1-2 on the season, and fans could feel it slipping away.
The Patriots hosted the Panthers the following week, and it started off rough. The Patriots defense allowed the Panthers to score a touchdown just in their first drive. Just a few moments later, the Patriots’ season shifted. Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones returned a punt for a touchdown, and the floodgates were opened. The team scored over 40 points for the first time in 1365 days and only lost one regular-season game the rest of the season.
While the ten-game win streak started in the week four game against Carolina, the team knew they were special when they went into Buffalo on Sunday night football and took down the ‘all mighty’ Bills 23-20. It was their first win in Buffalo since 2021, and the first time Drake Maye had taken Josh Allen down. The club won eight straight games before eventually dropping a heartbreaker to Buffalo at home.
When the playoffs rolled around, the Patriots were at the number two seed in the AFC and had totaled fourteen wins, which was ten more than they had won in 2024. A great turnaround in itself, but to truly orchestrate the greatest turnaround of all time, there needed to be some sort of postseason success. The Patriots got just that, winning a hard-fought contest against the Los Angeles Chargers and then picking off CJ Stroud four times in a 28-16 win over the Houston Texans to advance to their first AFC Championship game in seven years.
In that AFC Championship game, the Patriots narrowly defeated a Jarrett Stidham-led Broncos team, a game that showed exactly who the Patriots were: warriors. And while the Super Bowl was certainly a letdown, the team over performed expectations greatly, and all fans should be extremely proud of what this team accomplished in 2025.
