One week of Super Bowl preparation is in the books for the New England Patriots. Now, the team is set to travel out West where they’ll spend the next week fulling gearing up to face the Seattle Seahawks
in Super Bowl LX.
It’s been a busy week here on Pats Pulpit, with our focus on the conclusion of the AFC Championship victory over the Denver Broncos and the start of Super Bowl prep. For anything else not covered previously, let’s clean out the notebook. Welcome to this week’s edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Road Warriors
As usual, you could hear Mack Hollins before you saw him.
As the Patriots’ veteran wide receiver made his entrance to the AFC Championship Game last week in Denver, Hollins clanked three glass bottles together with his fingers. Then he repeatedly belted out a phrase:
“Waaaaarriors! Come out to plaaaay!”
From the outfit to the chant, Hollins’ arrival was a full-on tribute to the 1979 cult film The Warriors — a movie about gangs in New York City navigating hostile territory. It’s a clip head coach Mike Vrabel showed his team early in the season, one that unexpectedly stuck and slowly became woven into the fabric of the locker room.
“I ran out of WWF clips to show them about the Road Warriors,” Vrabel shared. “So, the next thing I could think of was that movie clip, and that’s what we went with, and it’s amazing what sticks.”
What started as a light moment inside a team meeting soon took on a life of its own. Players referenced it. Staff members joked about it. And when the Patriots picked up their first win of the season on the road in Miami, the message suddenly had teeth.
The Patriots would go on to finish the regular season a perfect 8-0 away from Foxboro. A three-game October road swing further cemented the theme and gave real meaning to the ‘Road Warriors’ label.
“The first time, I think [Director of Sports Performance] Frank [Piraino] emptied two soy sauces and a Red Hot bottle, and was walking around the building,” Vrabel said. “And I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘Warriors’.”
By the time New England walked into Empower Field for the AFC Championship Game, the bit had become part of the team’s personality. And when they walked out with a win, they made history — becoming the first team in NFL history to go 9-0 on the road.
That ninth road win sent them to Super Bowl LX and served as a fitting example of how Vrabel’s culture has taken hold in his first year in New England.
“We have a great group of guys, and they continued to believe in the things we did, and they formed and created an identity and try to protect it,” Vrabel said on Sunday.
Home whites
As the home team, the Patriots leadership group elected to wear their all-white jerseys in Super Bowl LX, perhaps keeping their ‘Road Warrior’ mentality alive. History has also served the Patriots well in their white tops, as they are 4-2 when wearing them compared to 2-3 when donning blue or red home uniforms.
In NFL history, teams wearing white have a 37-22 (.627) record and are 16-5 over the last 21 seasons. However, the Eagles and Chiefs did not wear white the last two Super Bowl victories, so the Patriots will look to end that streak next Sunday.
Vrabel, however, was not ready to look too far into past stats.
“I hope the tooth fairy comes tonight, too,” he quipped. “We’ll be real excited.
Stopping Walker
Rushing the ball nearly 30 times on average per game, the Seahawks rushing attack has been the engine for their offense this season. Seattle ended the regular season with three of their highest rushing totals in consecutive games (171, 163 and 180 yards) and has seen lead back Kenneth Walker III average 4.68 yards per carry in two playoff games while finding the end zone four times.
For as good as wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is — and there will be plenty of attention on the All-Pro — stopping Walker up front may be priority No. 1 for New England’s defense.
Dominant duo
Defensive tackle Milton Williams had a dominant final postseason with the Philadelphia Eagles recording 14 pressures in four games en route to winning the Super Bowl. In his first three playoff games in New England, Williams has already logged 17.
Against a weaker Seattle interior offensive line, it could be up to Williams and partner Christian Barmore to take the game over yet again.
Dobbs’ day
With Drake Maye (illness/right shoulder) sidelined during Friday’s practice, backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs was thrusted into the starting spot for the first time this season. While the reps were a change, everything else throughout the day was business as usual for the veteran.
“Yeah, I mean, today was pretty status quo outside of the reps at practice,” Dobbs said. “In my career, like, I’ve been in Pittsburgh, and like, I’ve seen that that’s not a weird thing. That happens sometimes through the ebbs and flows of the NFL season. Luckily for us, it hasn’t happened up until this point.
“So of course, it’s going to be magnified, and we understand that. But the preparation, the film study, the communication still has been the exact same throughout the week. And I know he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
Henderson returning?
Since Rhamondre Stevenson suffered a toe injury back in Week 8, fellow RB TreVeyon Henderson was removed from the kick returner role due to the team’s limited running back depth. Now in a one-game season with the Super Bowl on the line — and with Henderson playing a season-low four snaps last week — the possibility may increase of Henderson returning to that role.
Over nine attempts this season, Henderson’s return average was lower than regulars such as Kyle Williams, D’Ernest Johnson, and Efton Chism III. But, his big play potential could be worth the shot against Seattle and Henderson has continued to rep as a returner in practice.
Setting up the week ahead
The Patriots are set to touch down in San Francisco around 3:30 p.m. local time on Sunday to kick off Super Bowl week. Opening night will take place Monday before New England tries to settle into a normal routine with practices Wednesday through Friday before kickoff on Sunday. Pats Pulpit will have you covered live from San Francisco throughout Super Bowl week.
