Drake Maye led the Patriots to a 28–23 win over the Buccaneers. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Don’t tell New England linebacker Robert Spillane that the Patriots aren’t [right where they’re supposed to be](http://www.si.com/nfl/robert-kraft-credit-hiring-mike-vrabel).
“It’s a brand new team,” the defensive captain said, from a victorious locker room in Tampa. “I wasn’t here last year, so I had no expectations in terms of last year’s play for us this year.”
But, I said to Spillane, you’ve been around the block.
“I’ve been around the block—and even when I was 2–15 with the Raiders, I thought we were going to go 17–0 that year,” he said. “So I have some level of delusion, player delusion, you might think. I have an overwhelming sense of confidence in myself and in my teammates. I always have. So I thought we’d be 10–0 right now. We’re 8–2, but every week it’s a battle in the NFL, and we’re just going to continue to battle.”
Turns out, his guess of 10–0 was much closer to the mark than most people would’ve predicted.
Drake Maye might be the NFL’s MVP through 10 weeks, but there’s more than just that going right for the Patriots. The 2025 team has matched its win total from ’23 and ’24 combined, and sits atop the AFC at 8–2.
And Sunday’s gutsy, grimy win over the NFC South–leading Buccaneers showed it.
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Don’t get it twisted, Maye _was_ really good in New England’s 28–23 win at Raymond James Stadium. His 72-yard touchdown throw to Kyle Williams came with a hand in his face and was dropped into an opening the size of a Home Depot bucket on an over route. His touchdown throw to end the first half, accompanied by a fantastic, toe-tapping catch by Stefon Diggs, was precise. His 54-yard go ball to Mack Hollins to convert third-and-14 in the fourth quarter gave New England leeway to take a little more time off the clock.
“He’s tough. He’s a leader. He extends plays,” Spillane said. “He comes up huge in clutch situations on third down, and I couldn’t be more proud of him, to have him as one of my teammates. I mean, Drake’s toughness, to keep coming back at you with unwavering belief is who he is.”
So, yes, this is about Maye. But that’s just the start of the story, though.
It’s also about an offensive line that was in disrepair last year, and has come back to life behind two rookies (Will Campbell and Jared Wilson) and two veteran imports (Garrett Bradbury and Morgan Moses). It’s about a receiver group that now has its leader, Diggs, and role players who have bought in. It’s about big-play rookies Williams and TreVeyon Henderson, who scored second–half touchdowns of 55 and 69 yards.
It’s also about a defense that Spillane has led, that’s blended a couple of stars Mike Vrabel inherited (Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore), and a cast of veterans brought in via free agency (Spillane, Milton Williams, Harold Landry III and K’Lavon Chaisson) who were good, not great, players elsewhere, and have melded seamlessly.
This week, it was that group that had to stand tall at the end. The aforementioned throw to Hollins was followed, four plays later, by a spectacular Tykee Smith pick of Maye in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line. From there, Baker Mayfield promptly churned out three first downs, moving the Bucs from their own 20-yard line all the way to the Patriots’ 27-yard line, where they faced third-and-3 headed into the two-minute warning, down 21–16.
At that point, Spillane looked around and saw in his teammates the same delusional belief he has in himself. At the end of a hot, humid afternoon, he knew what was coming next.
“That’s a collection of belief within each other, that our scheme and our players are going to get the job done,” he said. “I don’t think anyone blinked. Everyone had a smile on their face, ready to go out there. Everyone thought they were going to make the game-winning play. So that’s a really good sign as a defense.”
On third down, rookie Craig Woodson knocked the ball loose from tight end Cade Otton, who Mayfield hit in a hole between the safety and Gonzalez. On fourth down, Chaisson came on a twist—with six guys rushing Mayfield (and Spillane dropping off as a spy)—and pulled the quarterback to the ground, effectively ending the game.
At that moment, Spillane saw the product of what Vrabel is trying to build in Foxborough. He would know, having been a rookie on Vrabel’s first Titans team in 2018.
“When something bad happens, you rely back on what you are coached, what you’ve heard most, what has been emphasized to you,” he said. “So I really think our coaches are doing a great job of emphasizing what they want their film to look like on the field on Sunday. And when in question, choose violence. And I’m really glad that that’s the kind of crew that we have, both in terms of the people that we have and how it’s being coached.”
The Patriots’ defense helped secure a narrow victory down the stretch in Tampa. / Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Of course, there’s a reason why Spillane was in a Patriots jersey in Tampa on Sunday, with firsthand knowledge of what he signed up for in reuniting with Vrabel in New England.
“Passion, energy, and consistency—it is who he is as a man,” Spillane said. “He’s very authentic to who he is, so he never has to hide who he is. You’re going to get the true version of Mike Vrabel every time you see him. As a coach, to a player, that’s all you could ask for.”
The consistency, Spillane said, is most apparent in what Vrabel and staff ask from their players. According to Spillane, it’s “effort and finish, focus on the ball, details, technique and making great decisions. And that’s who we are as a team.”
So, Spillane had reason to trust that his delusion would become reality all along—he’d seen it play out with Vrabel before.
That Vrabel has Maye is a huge part of it, of course.
But, again, it’s more than just that. Vrabel’s programs have always been about emphasizing and elevating the players. All of them, with the idea being that if the staff believes in them, then they’ll buy into what the staff is building.
The Patriots, clearly, have.
“Make it about the players,” Vrabel texted, when I mentioned to him after the game that I was writing about the team. “That’s the most important thing.”
It certainly showed in just about every way on Sunday.