New England Patriots

The 2025 New England Patriots finished 14-3, captured the AFC East, and bulldozed through three playoff opponents before falling 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. This team went from back-to-back 4-13 seasons to one of the most stunning turnarounds in NFL history — a ten-win improvement that tied the all-time record. Mike Vrabel arrived as head coach and immediately installed a culture of physicality and accountability, reuniting with Josh McDaniels to build an offense that ranked second in the league in scoring. The ten-game winning streak from Week 4 through Week 13 was the franchise's longest since 2015, and the Week 5 road win over the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football announced to the entire league that this team was for real. The only stumbles were the season-opening loss to the Raiders, a Week 3 defeat to Pittsburgh, and a Week 15 shootout loss to Buffalo — and even those felt like speed bumps rather than structural cracks. The Super Bowl loss stung, but nothing about this season should be remembered with anything less than awe.

The Patriots averaged 28.8 points per game while allowing 16.8, a plus-twelve scoring margin that lands in elite territory. On offense, total expected points added across passing and rushing came in north of plus 160, meaning on a snap-by-snap basis this unit consistently moved the needle toward points. Defensively, total expected points added allowed came in around minus 45 combined — and remember, on defense a big negative number is what you want, because it means you're suppressing opponents' scoring chances. The team converted 44 percent of its third downs while holding opponents to 39 percent, winning the situational battle nearly every week. The Patriots scored between 23 and 42 points in thirteen of seventeen games, rarely dipping below their average — steady floor, high ceiling. The consistency was the story. Vrabel's team brought a reliable floor every single Sunday and then found another gear in blowouts like the Week 4 demolition of Carolina and the Week 17 annihilation of the Jets.

Now let's talk about the passing offense. This unit generated plus 157.3 in total passing expected points added on the season — a massive number that means the passing game alone added roughly nine expected points per contest above a league-average attack. Drake Maye threw for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions across all seventeen games, averaging 262 yards per game with a completion percentage over expected of plus 12.2 — that measures how often a quarterback completes passes above what the difficulty of his throws should predict, and plus 12 is spectacular. Maye also added 450 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground, giving the offense a dimension that kept defensive coordinators up at night. The passing attack was remarkably steady, with Maye posting positive expected points added in the vast majority of his starts and only a handful of sub-200-yard outings all year. The protection was the one blemish — 48 sacks allowed on the season is a number that has to come down, and it nearly caught up with them when Maye was sacked repeatedly through the postseason.

Now let's dig into the rushing offense. The ground game averaged 131 yards per game on 27.4 carries, generating plus 3.6 in total rushing expected points added — a modest but positive figure that tells you the run game was functional rather than dominant. The per-carry expected points added sat right at plus 0.01, league average on a snap-by-snap basis, but the unit produced 22 rushing touchdowns and 85 explosive plays overall — boom-or-bust when it mattered most. TreVeyon Henderson was the lead back with 911 yards and 9 touchdowns on 180 carries, and his explosive-play profile was the unit's calling card — he ripped off touchdown runs of 69, 65, 55, and 52 yards across the season. There were games where the run game hammered opponents, like the Week 18 blowout of Miami, and games where it was a nonfactor against stout fronts. But when New England needed to close out a lead in the fourth quarter, the combination of Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson gave Vrabel the ability to grind clock and keep opposing offenses on the sideline.

Next up, the pass defense. This secondary and pass rush combined for minus 32.1 in total passing expected points added allowed on the season — and again, on defense that negative number is a good thing, meaning opposing quarterbacks consistently lost value when they dropped back against New England. The unit allowed just 206.6 passing yards per game and 25 passing touchdowns while racking up 35 sacks and a healthy share of the team's 18 takeaways — steady floor, rarely spectacular. Third-down defense was a strength all year, with opponents converting just 39 percent of their tries and managing only 27 touchdowns on 118 red-zone snaps — a 23 percent red-zone touchdown rate that reflects a defense that bent but rarely broke when backed up near its own goal line. Marcus Mapu jumped a short pass intended for the sideline in Week 2 against Miami and picked off Tua Tagovailoa, returning it 20 yards to flip the field and seal the win. This was a consistent unit rather than a flashy one — you rarely saw a total shutdown performance, but you almost never saw a collapse either, and the pass defense carried its weight through the playoff gauntlet against the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos.

And the run defense. New England allowed just 102.1 rushing yards per game and posted minus 13.5 in total rushing expected points added allowed — a strong negative number that means opposing run games regularly lost value against this front. The unit surrendered only 11 rushing touchdowns all season on 404 carries, and it limited explosive runs to a minimum as part of the 51 total explosive plays allowed across both the run and pass game — assignment-sound all year. There was no single game where an opposing back ran wild for 150-plus yards and took over. This was a disciplined, gap-integrity front that set the tone for a defense built on effort, hallmarks of Vrabel's coaching tree dating back to his Tennessee days.