New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots got back on track in Week 16 with an exciting 28-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. After the game, though, head coach Mike Vrabel had a clear message he made sure to send to his team.
For much of the night, it looked like things weren’t going to go the Patriots’ way. And yet, they managed to rally from an 11-point deficit late, thanks in large part to the best outing of Drake Maye’s young career (31/44, 380 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT, 10 CAR, 25 YDS).
Given all the stakes for both teams in this game, it’s clear that this is the team’s most important win of the season. Despite that, Vrabel urged the Pats not to be content with this win, as he believes there is still so much more that this group can accomplish.
“I’m proud to be your coach, but we got a long way to go,” Vrabel said during his postgame speech. “I want you to realize what your potential is and what we can do if you just compete and stick together.”
Nobody could have expected that the Patriots would be 12-3 heading into Week 17 of the regular season, but now that they are, expectations have risen dramatically. It’s gotten to the point where it appears New England may actually be a legit Super Bowl contender.
As Vrabel notes, though, there’s still a lot of work to be done before that goal can be realized. That starts in Week 17, as New England will square off against the New York Jets in a matchup that it will be heavily favored to win.
