The New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers went from being surprise teams to consolidating their power as leaders of their respective divisions through week six of the NFL season.
The arrival of Mike Vrabel, a three-time champion as a player alongside legends Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, as head coach of the Pats in 2025 revolutionized a team looking to end a three-year playoff drought.
Vrabel and Maye return Patriots to glory
Vrabel, 50, has New England atop the NFL’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division ahead of the Buffalo Bills, favorites to reach Super Bowl LIX, whom he defeated in week five.
On Sunday, the Patriots picked up their third straight win of the campaign with a 25-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints with a strong performance by Drake Maye at the controls, a 23-year-old first-round pick in the 2024 Draft.
Mike Vrabel has boosted the skills of Maye, who is the fifth-leading quarterback with the most yards per carry at 1,522.
As well as the second best pass efficiency, with 73.2 percent; in addition, he has 10 touchdown passes for only two interceptions.
After six games Vrabel and Drake Maye have rekindled the passion of the first two decades of the century among fans who enjoyed Tom Brady’s exploits, although there is still a long way to go.
Rodgers propels Steelers to the top
Another team that represented an unknown quantity for this NFL campaign is the Steelers.
Aaron Rodgers’ veteran status and his disastrous tenure with the Jets did not bode well.
But head coach Mike Tomlin has proven the wisdom of hiring the 41-year-old veteran.
Pittsburgh leads the NFL AFC North with four wins and one loss, ahead of the favored Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.
Last Sunday, they easily defeated the Cleveland Browns 23-9 for their third consecutive victory with an outstanding performance by Rodgers.
In the campaign he has 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Six weeks into this 2025 season and the trend indicates that Tomlin will maintain his record of not having a losing season at the helm of the Steelers since replacing coach Bill Cowher in 2007.
The real challenge, though, is leading the team to win a seventh Super Bowl.
Mike Tomlin has led Pittsburgh to the title game twice.
In the XLIII edition, they defeated the Cardinals and in XLV, they lost to Aaron Rodgers’ Packers, their current quarterback.
Mayfield turns Buccaneers into powerhouse
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also shed the surprise tag to position themselves as a powerhouse in the NFL’s National Conference, where they are number one in the South division with a 5-1 record.
Todd Bowles found in Baker Mayfield the ideal quarterback to execute with high precision his offense, one of the most productive in the league.
At 30 years old, Mayfield is on track to have one of the best campaigns of his eight-year career.
He totaled 1,539 yards per pass, 12 touchdowns and only one interception, despite being without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, his star receivers, who were injured.
Tod Bowles was an assistant coach to Bruce Arians in the Bucs’ 2021 Super Bowl LV win, which they won under Tom Brady.
Now the 61-year-old coach is looking for his chance to give Tampa Bay its third Lombardi Trophy in history, confident in the effectiveness of Baker Mayfield.
With information from EFE
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