Karen Guregian: Mike Vrabel has the Patriots right where he wants them: Counted out

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Karen Guregian: Mike Vrabel has the Patriots right where he wants them: Counted out

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Wed, Feb 4, 2026 ·

4 min read

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Mike Vrabel couldn’t have scripted a better Super Bowl narrative ahead of Sunday’s game.

He couldn’t have asked for a better setup for his team.

No one is picking the Patriots to win. The Seattle Seahawks are the overwhelming favorites. Practically every sports and football commentator weighing in on the game has counted the Patriots out.

Being the underdog is perfect.

This is right in Vrabel’s wheelhouse. As a head coach, he has excelled in this role, especially in high-stakes games.

As a head coach, whether in Tennessee or New England , his teams have thrived having the masses picking against them. They’ve reveled in proving people wrong.

It’ll be no different Sunday.

Like the 2001 Super Bowl, the Patriots will take the field knowing many of those tuning in believe they’re going to lose.

“It is what it is, and we hear (it),” Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “The narrative is going to be the narrative, and we’re not worried about it. We’re not worried about all that. We’re just worried about us. There’s a narrative every week. And now we’re here.”

Might that serve as a little added fuel?

“For sure. Most definitely,” Hawkins said. “But I feel we’re self-motivated. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s once in a lifetime and we want to make the most of it.”

The Patriots have rode the “no one believes in us” mantra since September. Stefon Diggs has been waving that flag for some time. His responses to questions about the Patriots being in the Super Bowl continue to be littered with that theme.

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And that all goes back to Vrabel, and the message he delivers to the players daily. He believes in them, if no one else does.

On “Opening Night,” the Patriots coach was asked his take on being the underdog in the Super Bowl.

“Well, somebody has to,” Vrabel said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. “I don’t think we dislike it. That’s not anything that’s ever affected us. I don’t think we set out to necessarily worry about those types of things. I’m excited to be here with this football team.”

Vrabel might not want his team to “worry” about such things, but he has a way of planting the seed and using whatever he has at his disposal to give his team an edge.

He has a history of pulling off upsets, including defeating the Patriots in the 2019 playoffs, and sending Tom Brady away in defeat in his final game in New England.

Vrabel loves a challenge. He seems to be at his best when the odds are stacked against his team.

Patriots great Devin McCourty understands the dynamic. He believes Vrabel has put together a team with a certain makeup and mindset, one that has quite a few players with chips on their respective shoulders.

“I think they put this team together in the mentality of what Mike Vrabel is,” McCourty said Tuesday, during NBC’s availability with the media. “He talked about it when they got there. Violence on defense. Chip on their shoulder ... Mack Hollins walking into the AFC Championship game clinging bobbles together (like the Warriors movie) letting everyone know this rallying cry isn’t just inside the locker room. We’re letting you know we’re here, and we’re here to win. They compiled the team that way.”

McCourty, a three-time Super Bowl champion, said watching this Patriots team, hearing what they say, seeing how they play, is mindful of the teams Bill Belichick used to put together during his time.

“Maybe on the outside looking in, people weren’t that impressed, but inside our building, what we felt like we had, was a championship team,” McCourty said. “And I feel like this team has that same mentality.”

Patriots defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga said he doesn’t necessarily feel like the underdog going into Sunday’s game with the Seahawks, but “it is, what it is.”

Wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, meanwhile, embraces the underdog role. He loves the team’s identity.

“It’s cool being the underdog, you know,” Boutte said, “and surprise a lot of people when we do win ... at the end of the day, it’s a football game. Our goal is to win it.”

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