The Patriots season ended today by unexpectedly ending up in the Super Bowl. Thanks to second year quarterback Drake Maye and first year head coach and coach of the year Mike Vrabel, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl. This is the first Super Bowl since the Tom Brady era. However, the offense woes that plagued them during the postseason finally caught up to them. The much-maligned offensive line once again struggled to protect Drake Maye. The defense kept the Patriots in the game, but it was all for naught. The only good thing for New England was Ben Affleck’s new Dunkin ad.

The Patriots and Broncos were battling it out on Sunday. Both teams’ defenses were dominating the game. The Broncos struck first thanks to the belief the team had in Jarrett Stidham but Stidham did a crucial mistake by fumbling in their own red zone. The Patriots took advantage of this and scored a touchdown to tie the game.

It was a snowy and miserable day in Foxborough, Massachusetts and the Patriots and Texans were locked in a defensive struggle. The fans had to brave the elements to witness this slugfest. Both teams’ offenses struggled, making it a “war of attrition”.

Drake Maye of the Patriots had 4 fumbles in the games and CJ Stroud of the Texans had 4 interceptions. As a result, in the snow, both teams had to rely on their defenses to make the critical plays.

On a day that the Patriots offense was subpar, the Patriots’ bruising defense helped demolish the Los Angeles Chargers in a 16-3 win as they move on to the Divisional round. In fact, the Patriots’ defense was so bruising that Mike Vrabel, head coach of the Patriots, was bloody at the end of the game after Milton Williams   accidently nicked him on the lip with his helmet when the two men did a celebratory hug.

Decision making for Ohio State should be reviewed during the offseason. Ryan Day’s decision to remove the offense coordinator from calling plays and making him the play caller is what cost Ohio State the Cotton Bowl to Miami. This also led to an early exit in the College Football Playoff. This decision was based on the fact that the offense coordinator was leaving the school after the playoffs to be head coach of South Florida.  As a result of this, Day decided to punish the offense coordinator by removing him from playcalling duties.

For New England native Ryan Day, everything was going swimmingly for Ohio State. They finally beat their archrival Michigan in “The Game” in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Day got that elusive win that plagued him for years and almost cost him his job. Ohio State looked poised to win the Big Ten Championship and get into the Rose Bowl as the one seed in the College Football Playoffs. However, Indiana said “Not so fast my friend” as the recently retired Lee Corso would say and Indiana beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship behind Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman clinching performance.

Last season for the New England Patriots was another forgettable season. No buy in or energy by this team that only won a couple of games last season. It led to the firing of first year coach Jerod Mayo and the hiring of Mike Vrabel. The results of that decision have exceeded expectations so far as the Patriots have an 8-2 record as of this writing. Vrabel’s hiring has reenergized a team that has not felt this way since the Tom Brady era.