The start of the Mike Vrabel era began on Sunday, in what appeared to be a fairly even matchup between the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders. For the most part, analysts chose the home team to take home the W, which would have been a nice way to start a very telling new season.
But as we saw, the Patriots did not take down the Raiders and instead, got embarrassed on their home field in Week 1. It was a game that should have been an easy win, helping them build some momentum going into their first divisional matchup of the season against the Dolphins in Miami next week.
Yet it appears that the Raiders might have been overlooked, or the Patriots were too hyped, considering just how far they still have to go to be a reliable team. The new coaching staff and the entirely remodeled roster proved that was the case with their rollercoaster effort on Sunday, which will be one of the first tests Vrabel will have to overcome with his new team moving forward.
He said as much while speaking to reporters after the game, and hopefully, he has built a strong enough foundation after the disastrous 2024 season that this loss will just be a bump in the road to better games ahead.
Mike Vrabel's new culture will be tested after the Patriots suffer an embarrassing Week 1 loss
It might just be one loss, and it's the first game of a long season, so it would be fair to argue that it's a bit early to be so dramatic, but Vrabel isn't wrong about this loss being a test of the new culture and how strong their foundation is to move forward.
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel after the loss: “we have a long way to go.”
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) September 7, 2025
Vrabel says today’s result will challenge the culture and leadership on the team. Also seemed frustrated about losing the second half after emphasizing winning the second half all week.
RELATED: Patriots breakout candidate could shock fans if he lives up to early hype
The Patriots roster is a very young team, with several veterans who were brought in during free agency and immediately thrust into leadership roles. How they bounce back from a loss, even if they were mostly evenly matched throughout the game, will be crucial to how the rest of the season goes.
There are probably going to be more frustrating losses to come, so one like this cannot derail what they're trying to accomplish this season.
The main goal should be improvement. Although some were projecting that the Patriots could be a playoff-caliber team, that wasn't a realistic expectation given just how much the team has changed from last year. The new coaching staff and roster additions are certainly massive improvements, but they're far from being a legitimately competitive team, and Sunday's game proved that.
There's plenty of room for this team to grow, and how Vrabel addresses this kind of loss will ultimately dictate just how much of an impact he has made in the short time he has been the head coach. He was brought in for a reason, and part of that was due to his leadership, so hopefully, we see all the good from that over the next few days, as they can very easily beat the Dolphins next week.