Looking back on the Patriots' 2025 season, there is a lot of good to take away and plenty left to work on, but clearly, what they did worked, as they ended the year in the Super Bowl. Although that didn't go quite as planned, with some of their biggest weaknesses on full display, it was a peak nobody believed they could accomplish in the first year under Mike Vrabel.
That immediately put the Bills on notice, since they lost the division for the first time in five years, and now they are already looking ahead to the 2026 season and highlighting what might help them regain their divisional crown.
The top talking point appears to center on Will Campbell, who had an impressive rookie season until returning from injury in the playoffs.
He unfortunately became more of a liability on the field than anyone could have imagined, particularly in the Super Bowl, which had plenty of Patriots fans begging for him to be pulled from the game. Because of that, Bills fans are already feeling like Buffalo's defense will reign supreme over the left tackle next year, and that feeling might be a mistake.
Bills' fans were happy to hear Mike Vrabel stick with Will Campbell at left tackle after Super Bowl LX flop
While discussing Campbell's struggles in the Super Bowl, Brandon Ray of BuffaLowdown echoes the feelings of most Bills fans about future matchups between the Bills and Patriots and how the left tackle's shortcomings could work in their favor.
Considering we still haven't seen how the offseason will go, it feels a bit premature to be this confident, but the Bills need to hope for any small edge to regain control of the division, so this is one of those hopes.
"With Vrabel saying this about Campbell moving forward, the Bills need to do whatever it takes to bulk up their pass rush when they take on the Patriots. The good news is that with Jim Leonhard now in charge of the defense, the aggressiveness should definitely improve without question.
So, whether it’s Greg Rousseau or someone else lining up from across Campbell, the Bills will have the chance to embarrass Campbell and the Pats if Campbell is not able to improve, Buffalo could have a lot of fun against New England’s offense."
While he makes a fair argument, and there is plenty of time for the Bills to improve their defensive line and pass rush, there's just as much time for Campbell to improve his skills, especially since a few legendary tackles have already offered to mentor him this offseason.
On top of that, focusing on just one of the offensive linemen would be a mistake for the Bills, as the rest of the group has been far more consistently solid and will only get better this offseason.
It's clear that the future battles between these two teams will be far more competitive than they have been for the past five years, so looking ahead to what could happen this fall is exciting.
But at the same time, seeing Buffalo fans already (somewhat) writing off what Campbell can become in his second season seems premature, and it could come back to bite them down the line.