Unlike his predecessor Jerod Mayo, another former Patriot, Vrabel’s resume should get him more than one year to rebuild the team in the absence of former head coach and future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick. Mayo’s hire came as a surprise to most of the NFL in 2024 but no one will be shocked to see Vrabel improve on the team’s 4-13 record.
Buffalo Bills | Playoff games against the Chiefs | Not super
Buffalo is 36-20-1 against Kansas City all-time and beat the Chiefs 30-21 in Week 11, but its playoff record against the reigning Super Bowl champions in recent years is anything but good.
In 2020, quarterback Josh Allen put up 375 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, only to lose to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game. A year later, he accounted for 397 yards with four touchdown passes while losing to the Chiefs 42-36 in overtime of the divisional round of the playoffs.
Cincinnati had the honor of eliminating Buffalo from the playoffs in 2022 but Kansas City was back at it in 2023, beating Buffalo 27-24, once again in the divisional round. So while this year’s 32-29 loss to the Chiefs in the conference championship game surely stings Bills fans, they probably should have seen it coming.
New York Jets | Aaron Glenn | Super
Like the Patriots, the Jets’ new head coach is the best thing the team has going right now. Glenn spent the first eight seasons of his career playing cornerback for the Jets before moving on to the Texans in 2002.
He’s been an assistant coach since 2014 and spent the last four seasons as defensive coordinator for the Lions. Detroit entered Week 18 with 13 defensive players on injured reserve, including six defensive starters like Pro Bowl defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Still, Glenn’s defense allowed just 20.1 points per game in the regular season, the seventh-fewest in the league. Just imagine what he can do with a Jets defense that gave up just 313.7 yards per game, the third-best number in the league last year.
Miami Dolphins | Tyreek Hill’s mindset | Not super
After signing a restructured deal in July that guaranteed him $65M over the next three years, the Dolphins wide receiver said, “I want to stay here in Miami because obviously this is where family is now. Everybody loves it here. Family loves it, wife loves it, kids love it. So obviously I love it.”
Following the team’s 8-9 season, Hill said he’d do what’s best for his family, telling reporters, “I’m out. It was great playing here.” More recently, he popped off while livestreaming a video game, saying Miami needed to “put some pressure on [expletive], fix this [expletive] and add some [expletive] dogs in this [expletive].”
Strong words but maybe ill-timed considering Hill’s 56.4 yards per game average in 2024. Expect his name to come up in trade rumors throughout the offseason.
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