The New England Patriots had both the AFC’s top scoring and total offense during the 2025 regular season, averaging 28.8 points per game and 379.4 yards per game. But with Drake Maye’s passing and their running needing a big lift through a three-game grind in the AFC playoffs, defense is what won them the conference championship.
The Patriots won a snowy, wintry battle of attrition over the Broncos in Denver, 10-7, not allowing a point after the first quarter. That followed their pair of strong home wild-card and divisional round wins in the playoffs, 16-3 over the Chargers and 28-16 over the Texans. They made all the big situational plays to put away all the teams in the fourth quarter, allowing a combined 26 points in three games.
They were the No. 4 scoring defense in the NFL, giving up an average of 18.8 points per game. That dropped to 8.7 in their three playoff games.
Maye did make his share of big plays with his arm and legs to save the day for the Patriots, but he wouldn’t be playing in his first Super Bowl at only 23 without his D. Here’s why he can count on the Patriots’ defense also coming through in Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8:
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3 reasons Patriots defense dominated in AFC playoffs
The Patriots got even better against the run and made their opponents one-dimensional
The Patriots were the NFL’s sixth-ranked run defense during the regular season, allowing on average 101.7 rushing yards per game while allowing only 4.2 yards per carry. They would finished higher had run-stuffing tackle Milton Williams not missed five games.
The Chargers, Texans and Broncos combined for a total of 214 rushing yards against the Patriots in the AFC playoffs. All three opponents were inefficient and ineffective, averaging as a whole only 3.1 yards per carry.
The Seahawks ran more than 50 percent of the time, but they averaged only 4.1 yards per carry along with their 123.5 yards per game. The Rams were effective in running 42.5 percent of the time, averaging 4.6 yards per carry with 126.6 yards per game. The Patriots will be prepared to create more tough sledding for either team with their exceptional play up front with Williams and others.
The Patriots had a nose for bigger turnovers than their opponents could force against them
Maye was sloppy with the ball in the first two games against the active defenses of Los Angeles and Houston. He had two interceptions, but the more concerning were the three lost fumbles heading into Denver to face its tough pass rush.
There’s no doubt Maye was focusing plenty on protecting the ball and not taking risks early in the game, tentative about his throws against the Broncos. He held the ball too long because of that, taking five sacks for the third consecutive game with rookie left tackle Will Campbell and the rest of the line struggling to hold up. He got even more conservative with the ball in the second half, but that yielded winning results with Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson controlling the ball through the end with the running game.
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But even with Maye’s five giveaways in the two games, the Patriots ended up plus-3 in turnover margin with 8 massive takeaways. The forced fumble from Jarret Stidham led to the Patriots’ only TD against the Broncos. Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez’s late interception of Stidham helped seal the victory.
That followed the Patriots getting 5 interceptions of C.J. Stroud in the divisional playoffs and getting Justin Herbert to lose a fumble in the wild-card game.
The Seahawks were No. 2 in the NFL with their 28 giveaways during the regular season, including 15 interceptions. The Rams had 15 giveaways but they struggled to protect the ball in their losses against better teams.
The Patriots are playing exceptional situational defense again for Mike Vrabel
This is where Vrabel has channeled Bill Belichick the best as the Patriots coach. The Patriots are OK giving up yards and some chunk plays, knowing they will win the most critical downs. The signature moment of the Patriots beating the Broncos was Vrabel’s defense shutting down a fourth-and-1 by Denver in the red zone.
In the regular season, the Patriots were No. 11 in third-down defense, allowing conversions on only 37.4 percent of attempts. They went 12-for-35 in getting off the field on third down, good for 34.3 percent.
But the biggest change so far for the Patriots has been winning defensively more in the red zone, huge with Maye and the offense not exploding for typical point totals and also having situational issues of their own.
The Patriots were only No. 23 in the league, allowing opponents to score touchdowns on 60.9 percent of trips. They allowed only two red zone TDs on eight trips in the playoffs for 25 percent, a major improvement.
Whether the Patriots play the Seahawks or Rams, they will be prepared to stop the run, force key takeaways and win on third down and in the red zone. That is their familiar formula to winning Super Bowls and it won’t let them down in their final playoff game.
