Sunday's game against the Dolphins represented proof of progress for Mike Vrabel's Patriots.
Sunday's game against the Dolphins represented proof of progress for Mike Vrabel's Patriots.Barry Chin/Globe Staff
For a new coach building his program like Mike Vrabel, soliciting buy-in from the players is essential. As the term implies, buy-in must be paid for. Wins are the currency that fills a coach’s account with belief and compliance. Vrabel bought those and more cachet with his first win as Patriots coach in a place that has been a destitute dead zone.
Sunday’s wild 33-27 road win over the Dolphins will pay dividends for Vrabel in Year 1. It’s currency he can draw on. It’s one thing for him to convey his winning vision to the team. It’s another for the players to experience it.
Sunday represented proof of progress for the Patriots, and that’s priceless for a team that must learn how to win games and how not to lose them.
“It’s proof of what the work you put in can result in. It’s proof of why you work so hard, why you have extra meetings, why you get treatment on time, why you do the little things,” said quarterback Drake Maye, who shined in the South Florida sunshine.
“At least you have proof now of a good turnout and come up in the win column.”
We’ll see if it carries over to this Sunday’s game against another of Vrabel’s former teams during his playing days, the Steelers, who venture to Gillette Stadium with mercurial quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Fingers crossed in Foxborough.
Sunday’s win was a microcosm of what the Patriots’ season promises to be — a roller coaster ride full of big plays and big mistakes, joy and anguish, improvement and setbacks, maturation and frustration. The gridiron graph is not going to be a straight incline.
Let’s be honest. Miami self-destructed on its final two possessions with unforced errors in the form of false start and delay of game penalties. Dolphins running back De’Von Achane was this year’s Ja’Lynn Polk with fateful foot placement that negated an apparent late go-ahead touchdown.
“Luckily, he stepped out. That would’ve been bad,” said Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams, who sealed the game with a sack of longtime New England tormentor Tua Tagovailoa.
Beating Tua and the Dolphins in the Hard Rock Stadium hard place signaled a new era. Still, Miami’s Mistake Machine lost the game as much as the Patriots won it. The Pats took advantage of bad football — barely.
The Patriots remain at a stage where their determination and desire to win are greater than their ability and execution.
The will, belief, and effort are there, along with penalties. Lots of penalties. The Patriots were whistled for 12 accepted penalties for 75 yards Sunday, too many of the facepalm variety. They’re tied for third in the NFL with the winless Bears, Giants, and Saints with 20 accepted penalties.
The polish, executional reliability, and situational football proficiency are not there. Honing those is the task for Vrabel and his staff the rest of the season.
“There’s lots to coach from, but it’s going to be easier to coach from a win,” said Vrabel. “We’ll be able to coach them hard and make sure we’re trying to fix the things that hurt us.”
Bingo.
There’s no player on the team that it’s more crucial to establish a positive credit score with than Maye. He must be fully invested in the Vrabel Way.
Sunday represented his first start-to-finish quarterbacking victory where he played well. (He won in Chicago last year as a signal-caller sidecar.)
Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels reframed the offense for Maye to a degree to make his decisions clearer and him more decisive. No more should I stay or should I go in the pocket and a lot more move plays. In the first quarter alone, the Patriots ran three bootleg passes, hardly a staple of the playbook in the Tom Brady days.
McDaniels adjusted the offense to feature what Maye does best and is most comfortable executing. Traditionally, the McDaniels offense majors inside the numbers. However, against the Dolphins, Maye was 13 of 17 for 178 of his 230 passing yards and both touchdown tosses on throws that were to the outside thirds of the field — from the numbers out.
In the NFL, it can get muddy and the picture muddled for a young quarterback in the middle of the field. Throws on the outside are more defined. They also play to Maye’s arm strength.
Good examples were two key wheel routes to running backs that Maye completed.
The first was on the team’s second possession. On third and 4, Maye hit TreVeyon Henderson for 15 yards. The play was a clear read, as tight end Hunter Henry set a borderline pick on a non-route to free up Henderson. The second wheel route came in the third quarter with the Patriots trailing, 20-15. Maye shrugged off Miami’s Jaelan Phillips and hit Rhamondre Stevenson down the right sideline for a 55-yard gain. Two plays later, Maye outraced Matthew Judon for a 6-yard TD. Maye netted 29 yards on four scrambles, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
The play from @DrakeMaye2 to @dreeday32 that set up the score ⏩
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/F20NTJVCSr
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 14, 2025
The result of molding the offense to Maye and not the other way around was also zero turnovers for the second-year QB, who entering Sunday led the NFL in turnovers (17) since becoming the starter in Week 6 last season.
A win this week against the Steelers would provide the Patriots their first two-game winning streak since 2022, when they beat Detroit, 29-0, and then won at Cleveland, 38-15, on Oct. 16. The Patriots could sport a winning record after multiple games for the first time since they took the field at 7-6 against the Raiders on Dec. 18, 2022.
Pittsburgh might be ripe for the picking. Its defense, dotted with big names and big paychecks, has looked old and slow. The Patriots actually have three times as many sacks (nine) as the T.J. Watt-led Steelers.
The Steel Curtain has been more like the NFL’s Maginot Line. Pittsburgh ranks 29th in total defense, allowing 394.5 yards per game to offenses quarterbacked by Justin Fields and Sam Darnold. The Steelers are 30th in points (31.5), but that includes a special teams gaffe on Sunday against the Seahawks that resulted in a touchdown.
Cashing in against Pittsburgh to bank a winning record would give Vrabel even more investment capital.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.