‘It’s a new era’: Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel will write New England’s next Super Bowl chapter

New England Patriots

Tom Brady and Brady Belichick have moved on. Maye and Vrabel have shown that the future is here.

Drake Maye bumped heads with Will Campbell after lining up in victory formation to close out the Patriots’ 10-7 win in the AFC title game.

“That was probably the hardest head bump of my life out there after I picked up the first down,” Maye said. “That was special for those guys, we’ve been in that scenario a lot. I always say that’s my favorite play.”

Maye called his own number to get the first down that allowed the Patriots to run out the clock. He faked like he was going to hand the ball off to Rhamondre Stevenson, but wound up keeping it himself, beating Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss to the first-down marker.

From there, the Patriots whittled the clock down until they were able to line up in victory formation and secure New England’s first road playoff victory in Denver.

Even Tom Brady was 0-3 against the Broncos on the road in the playoffs.

But, now, the future is here. Bill Belichick is no longer coaching in the NFL and Brady is broadcasting games instead of playing in them. The Patriots have a new head coach/quarterback duo leading them into the Super Bowl.

“It’s a new team, it’s a new era,” Maye said. “I respect and appreciate what the Patriots dynasty did, and unfortunately they didn’t come out with some wins here, but we changed that narrative and look forward to bringing our best football for [the Super Bowl].”

The Patriots weren’t supposed to be here this quickly. They won 16 games total over the past three seasons before this one. Sunday marked New England’s 17th win of the season.

That’s the thing about sports. Playoff runs aren’t made on paper. You have to show up, prepare, and see how things play out no matter what the odds or the past history looks like.

“I think that’s why you have to do this,” Vrabel said. “You have to believe things, sometimes, before you can see them. You have to believe that what you’re doing is the right thing, and if it’s not you have to recognize it and make adjustments and changes to the program and everything else.”

“We’ve got a great group of guys and they continued to believe in the things we did. They formed and created an identity and they tried to protect it. [Sunday] was just another example of – as things kind of change and unfold, our ability to change and adjust.”

Receiver Stefon Diggs praised the culture that Vrabel has built. The Patriots lost two of their first three games this season, but the coach kept pushing. The Patriots took on being road warriors as part of their idenetity, going 9-0 on the road including Sunday’s AFC championship win in Denver. They’re riding a six-game win streak into the Super Bowl.

“It was easy to count us out and put us in that spot,” Diggs said. “Nobody believed in us, let alone liked us for any matter. Our coach believed in us and helped us built this identity that he speaks of. He held everybody to the same standard, something that I’m super thankful for, and I realize that it starts at the head.”

“When you hold everybody to the same standard and the same requirements each and every day, you hold you teammates accountable. You start looking at your teammates like -self-policing, self-accountability and you don’t want to let your teammates down. So, the camraderie and the team chemistry that he’s built from the head coaching position is second to none. Hopefully he wins coach of the year.”

This group is ready for Santa Clara. They’ll face the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX. Defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson said this moment was destined.

“San Fran been calling us since the start of it,” Chaisson told WMUR while walking off the field. “Everybody’s been hating on us, everybody’s been talking about some schedule, a whole bunch of rah-rah stuff. We stayed playing, we stayed focus and we got to it.”

There are plenty of things to clean up, and the Patriots need more offensive production in order to end this season as champions. But, the stage is set and they’ve been called back for a starring role in this Super Bowl led by a new cast of characters.

“We had some time and we had our chances to score,” Maye said. “I think we’ve got to help our defense out more, but hey, it is what it is and man, it’s awesome going to the Super Bowl, so I can’t complain.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.