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‘That’s hard for me to understand’: Mike Vrabel’s issue with NFL officiating, message to Patriots after loss vs. Bills
"It's 83 days since we lost. It was a good run, and we have to start another one."
The Patriots‘ winning streak finally came to an end on Sunday in a 35-31 loss to the Bills. The defeat denied New England a chance to clinch the AFC East, and reopened questions about Mike Vrabel’s team.
On Monday, the Patriots’ head coach joined WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” to provide his take on the defeat.
“We’ve got to pick up the pieces and figure out how to win another game here this week,” Vrabel said after being introduced. New England will play the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday night in what promises to be another tough matchup.
Assessing the Patriots’ strong start and ensuing second-half letdown against Buffalo, Vrabel paid credit to Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
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“They made plays,” he said simply. “We couldn’t get turnovers.”
“We had talked about [how] there were going to be some times in the game where we were going to have to make the play, and when that came up, we needed to make it,” Vrabel said of the key moments on Sunday. “There were time where we did, and then unfortunately times where we didn’t.
“We didn’t in the second half, and knew that we were going to need to be better than what we were in the red zone. That’s concerning,” he added of his team’s red zone defense. “We have to force teams to kick field goals when they do drive it on us.”
Here are a few more topics Vrabel covered in the WEEI interview:
Josh McDaniels and the play-calling
Vrabel was queried about how his team got off to such a strong start — especially on offense — only to falter in the second half. Specifically, why did offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ play-calling lose momentum after a great first half?
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“You can only run so many double-passes that gain 13 yards, you know what I mean? That’s cool, and it’s cute, but you can only run so many of those,” Vrabel said of some of the gadget plays the Patriots deployed.
New England scored 31 points, but was able to generate only 139 yards of passing.
“You know I’m not going to sit here, I’ve never really tried to second-guess the play-calling,” said Vrabel. “I always think that the best plays are ones that decisive, and that the players know and trust. Obviously there are some better ones, but I don’t think there’s a perfect call. So when we get back and look at it, I’m sure there’s always going to be some ones that we’re going to want to have back.”
Revisiting the offense’s performance against Buffalo, Vrabel said the team made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
“That’s not us,” he said of falling into 3rd and long situations. “So I don’t know what play-call is going to fix that. But I do understand that there’s a great balance between the play-call, and the execution, and obviously the decisions that we make. There were times in the game where all three of those were really good, and then there were times during the game where those really didn’t align, and they weren’t very good. That’s on all of us. That’s on the coaching. That’s on the players.
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“It starts with me,” Vrabel said of the problems.
He offered an interesting nugget on his evolution as a head coach periodically involved in offensive play-calling.
“I’m all for making suggestions, but I’ve learned that my suggestions need to be done before they spot the ball,” Vrabel explained, pointing out that a belated suggestion forces personnel groups to be re-subbed, costing the offense time.
“I think I’ve learned. I used to do that probably too much in Tennessee where it was too late, and then it’s causing this panic in the play-clock,” he said of altering play-calls. “So I’m all for making suggestions, just have to try to do it before they spot the football.”
Of McDaniels specifically, Vrabel added later in the interview that he’s “excited” to see what the veteran assistant can do to further develop Maye.
“It’s been great to work him, excited to see the growth and continued development of Drake and everybody else.”
Response to the officiating
A subplot from Sunday’s game were a plethora of controversial calls. Vrabel cited an underlining issue.
“They do have a difficult job. The consistency, sometimes I struggle with it,” he said. “I’ll say this: The Bills lead the NFL in offensive holding, and I’ll leave it at that. And that would be hard for me to understand how the team that is coming into the game leading, and that’s how they play, didn’t have one yesterday. That’s hard for me to understand.
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“And they’re fine with that,” Vrabel continued. “Again, that’s how they play. They’ve been successful, and they’ve been able to overcome those. That was just my point was just if they’re there, call them. And I’m sure ours are penalties, we can debate [the penalty call on] Marcus Jones. I don’t think it was a catch, whether we think it’s a [pass interference call], that’s their call.”
Jones was flagged for pass interference on a fourth down play during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. Vrabel said that sometimes that particular call has been skipped by officials, only on Sunday it wasn’t.
“We have to know what the rules are. We have to know how they are calling it, what the mechanics are. If you’re not playing the football, the margin for error goes way, way, way down,” he said of Jones’s play.
“I felt like both players were still drifting away from the football as opposed to going back,” Vrabel concluded of the Jones call. “And I know that his arms went back, but he continued to drift, and that’s where sometimes they don’t get called. That wasn’t the case yesterday.”
Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame candidacies
Vrabel was asked what he thought about the Hall of Fame candidacies of both Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. The former New England owner-head coach duo are both finalists for the Class of 2026.
“I think they’re both very well deserving,” said Vrabel. “You look at our organization and our franchise with Robert and his leadership and success that we’ve had, the development of the stadium and Patriot Place.”
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“The success that Bill had as the head coach here is unprecedented,” Vrabel added, turning to his ex-coach’s resume. “So they’re both very well-deserving I would say, not that I get a vote, but I hope they both get in.”
The team’s response to a loss
Despite the loss, Vrabel kept things focused on the bigger picture.
“We’re 11-3, and we’re going to work our asses off to be 12-3. I love coaching these guys, and it’s not perfect, and none of us are, and this happens in the National Football League,” he said of the defeat.
“It’s 83 days since we lost,” he added. “It was a good run, and we have to start another one. We have to get back to work here and practice, but we will. We’ve got a bunch of good dudes.”
Vrabel said he appreciated the observation that his team doesn’t try to shirk accountability, noting that it’s a point of emphasis.
“We’ll hear their explanations, but we can’t accept excuses,” he said of the dialogue with players. “So we just own it and come in with a willingness and a humility to improve, but also I’m hoping that we don’t walk around with our heads down. We have to get back to work.
“It sucks to lose, and it sucks to lose like that with an opportunity to win the division, and it didn’t happen,” Vrabel admitted. “That’s what you have to learn from. You can work really hard for stuff, and you can want stuff really bad, and sometimes you don’t get. You have to be able to just come back and compete, and pick up the pieces and put them back together.”
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