Greg Van Roten just signed with the New England Patriots, and he already gave reporters a quote that will immediately endear the veteran offensive lineman to fans.
There has been a clear misconception circulating around the NFL since Super Bowl LX, when the Patriots were outclassed by the Seattle Seahawks in a 29-13 defeat that wasn’t really that close.
The fallout from that game has been wild, though. A team that won 10 consecutive games at one point during the regular season and went 9-0 in true road games has often been labeled as “lucky” and “overrated,” with analysts and opposing fans pointing to the Patriots’ favorable schedule and opposing injury luck in the playoffs as the sole reason why they came out of the AFC.
Those who actually watched the Patriots play last year know how amateur those takes are.
Those who played against the Patriots know even better.
One of the most memorable games of New England’s 2025 regular season was its Monday night butt-kicking of the New York Giants. The Patriots punched the Giants in the mouth and led 30-7 at halftime on a night that announced the team’s arrival in prime-time.
For Van Roten, who was the starting right guard for the Giants in 2025, that game was memorable for all the wrong reasons — but it may be why he’s now a Patriot.
“We were pretty fired up to come here Monday night, play the Patriots, and everyone was chirping about their schedule, and this and that,” Van Roten said. “There's been a few games in my NFL career where you play against a defense that just feels a little bit different. And that was like one of those games, where they just were flying around. They were hitting hard. It was a very physical game very early on, and I've been a part of a lot of NFL games, but that one stood out.”
Greg Van Roten is the latest example of the New England Patriots’ culture shift
Van Roten's comments speak volumes and run counter to the notion that the Patriots “lucked” their way to 14 wins and a conference championship. Led by blossoming quarterback Drake Maye and a relentless defense, New England emerged as one of those teams that nobody wanted to play in December and January.
They were a buzzsaw that happened to take advantage of the NFL’s easiest schedule based on win percentage. Contrary to popular belief, those two facts aren't mutually exclusive. Van Roten witnessed it firsthand.
The Patriots set a heavy tone with a number of jarring hits that night, none more memorable than Christian Elliss’ legal shot to the shoulder of quarterback Jaxon Dart that sent him flying out of bounds. New England scored on five of its first six possessions, got a 94-yard punt return score from Marcus Jones, and shifted into cruise control in the second half for a 33-15 win.
The easy rebuttal would be to look at the records, as the Patriots improved to 11-2 and the Giants dropped to 2-11 after that one. But New York had picked off two playoff teams — the Chargers and Eagles — earlier in the year, and they lost some tight, one-score games to the Broncos (33-32), Bears (24-20), Packers (20-27), and Lions (34-27, OT).
The Giants weren’t a good football team, but they also weren’t a pushover. It just looked that way against a Patriots team that had fully hit its stride and was starting to believe.
Respected veterans like Van Roten, Dre’Mont Jones, Kevin Byard, and A.J. Brown actively wanting to be part of what Vrabel’s been building in Foxboro over the past two years is the biggest takeaway here. The Patriots really are back, and this 2026 season against one of the NFL’s most battle-tested schedules feels like the perfect time to start proving it.
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