The New England Patriots continue to rock and roll, winning their fifth straight game. They're 6-2 in Mike Vrabel's first year at the helm and just blew out the Cleveland Browns in Week 8.
After the 32-13 win, Vrabel seemingly took a shot at the Browns and called them out for running as many gimmicky plays as they did, stating, "When [the Browns'] gimmick plays ran out, [the Patriots] played pretty good defense."
Mike Vrabel: “When their gimmick plays ran out, we played pretty good defense.” pic.twitter.com/Fp5Fri8n44
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) October 26, 2025
Nothing like a direct shot, huh? Most of this quote is a shot at the Browns for running all those gimmicky plays, but part of it is directed at his own defense, which continued to struggle early, a trend that has become a problem for them in games.
The Patriots' defense allowed Dillon Gabriel to throw for a touchdown on Cleveland's first offensive drive of the game.
Fortunately, that was the only score Gabriel and the Browns had until late in regulation when the Patriots had already put the finishing touches on the game. Their offense ended up being no match for Vrabel's unit and it showed.
Mike Vrabel didn't mince words about Browns "gimmicky" offense
Hey, when a team knows their offense is outmatched, tricky plays make sense. That's exactly what the Browns did. And it worked for a bit. And then it stopped working. And these teams looked the way they were both supposed to.
The Patriots then pinned their ears back and played stout defense for the rest of the game, and made the Browns look like the two-win team they are.
The offense did its part as well, scoring 32 points, even if it took them a bit to get going. Hopefully, the Patriots can figure out how to start out a little hotter rather than turning on the jets later on, but as long as they keep winning, fans won't complain too much about that.