
Poll: Which NFL opening has the best path back to the playoffs?
The worst kept secret in the National Football League was revealed yesterday when news broke that the New England Patriots and Mike Vrabel had agreed to terms, making the Patriots Hall of Famer the 16 head coach in franchise history.
Kraft got his guy...again. But this time the move is met with much greater respect from across the fanbase. Vrabel is a bona fide NFL head coach/leader of men. He went to an AFC Championship Game with Ryan Tannehill as his QB for goodness sake.
Vrabel spent eight of his 14 NFL playing seasons with the Patriots. He played in 125 games, recorded 48.5 sacks, had 10 receptions for 10 TD's (and a couple more in the playoffs) as a TE/FB ace on offense, and won three Super Bowl titles as a defensive fixture during the first dynasty.
He then went 54-45 in his six seasons as Titans HC, thrice making the playoffs with a 2-3 mark, and was basically fired for coming to Foxborough to be inducted into the Pats' HOF, wearing a New England jacket and talking about how great of an organization the Patriots were, while still being Tennessee's coach.
The former-Patriots linebacker (hey, we can roll that title over) has his work cut out for him as he will need to overhaul one of the worst rosters in the NFL. But with Vrabel, it'll be a return to the Belichickian model of a team that doesn't beat itself and that excels in the margins.
Vrabel's Titans were 30-23-1 in one score games during his tenure there, 4th best in the AFC during the span. The Pats have gone 11-18 in one score games in the last three seasons, 3rd worst in the AFC.
The NFL, as we know, is built for teams to go from the bottom to the top in short order. Of the now five remaining head coaching vacancies around the league, plus New England, which of those six teams will be back in the playoffs first?
More From 92.9 The Ticket


![NBA blockbusters steal Super Bowl week headlines [poll]](http://townsquare.media/site/591/files/2025/02/attachment-GettyImages-2194468739.jpg?w=980&q=75)





