New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has his team back in the Super Bowl with a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos, and it may be more surreal for him than anyone else in the organization.
Vrabel became the second man in NFL history to make a Super Bowl as a player and then as a head coach with the same team. Gary Kubiak became the first in 2016 with the Broncos as the team’s head coach.
Vrabel can make NFL history if the Patriots hoist the Lombardi Trophy in two weeks, which would make him the first-ever man to win it all as a player and a head coach. He won three with the Patriots as a player in the 2000s.
“I won’t win it. It’ll be the players that will win the game, I promise you,” Vrabel told CBS Sports afterward. “It won’t be me that will win it, and I can promise you that I’ll do everything that I can and our staff to have them ready for the game.”
Vrabel rejoined the Patriots as the head coach in 2025 and turned around the team from back-to-back 4-13 seasons. His squad went 14-3 and won the AFC East, and then won three playoff games on the way to the Super Bowl, the franchise’s 12th appearance overall.
New England Won Ugly
Things didn’t look good for the Patriots in the beginning as former Patriots quarterback Jarett Stidham came out firing for the Broncos with a 52-yard pass and a 6-yard touchdown pass.
New England’s offense stalled but caught a big break in the second quarter with a Broncos fumble. That led to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye scampering for a touchdown and a 7-7 score.
The Patriots grabbed the lead in the third quarter on a field goal, 10-7, and the defense held off the Broncos offense as the snow accumulated in the second half. Meanwhile, New England’s offense couldn’t get much more going but held on to win.
Leonard Taylor III came through as he got a hand on the ball during the Broncos’ fourth-quarter field goal attempt. Defensive back Christian Gonzalez closed the deal with an interception.
More History Awaits Patriots
New England’s return to power could mark a new era for the franchise after a three-year absence from the playoffs and a seven-year absence from the Super Bowl.
The Patriots won six Super Bowls between 2001 and 2019 with former head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines and Tom Brady as the quarterback. Vrabel played linebacker for many of those teams between 2001 and 2008.
New England struggled after Brady left in free agency for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, and the Patriots cycled through quarterbacks and eventually head coaches. Vrabel is the third head in three years, but he came with a vision to restore the Patriot Way with Foxborough despite six years of struggles.
“You have to believe things sometimes before you can see them,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters on Sunday. “You have to believe what you’re doing is the right thing. And if it’s not, you have to recognize it and make adjustments and changes.”
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