The Cleveland Browns have a natural connection to the New England Patriots, whose head coach, Mike Vrabel, spent the 2024 season in Berea as a coaching and personnel consultant.
Vrabel’s now in his second season in Foxboro, but the parallels between his debut season with the Patriots in 2025 and Todd Monken’s strong start with the Browns here in 2026 are becoming impossible to ignore.
At the start of last season, the Patriots had won just eight games in two years, leading them to make a coaching change. Kevin Stefanski’s eight combined wins between the 2024 and 2025 seasons is what ultimately got him ousted from Cleveland back in January.
It was around this time last year when Vrabel’s Patriots won a prime-time rivalry game over Buffalo and announced themselves as more than just a fun early-season story.
We’re not saying Deshaun Watson will pull a Drake Maye and surge into the MVP conversation. And we’re not saying that the Browns look like Super Bowl contenders through four games.
But the vibes feel eerily similar to New England’s right now, for multiple reasons.
The Browns are starting to check some of the same boxes as last year's Patriots
The 2026 schedule might be breaking in the Browns’ favor
As someone who grew up an hour north of Boston, trust me when I say that nothing riles up Patriots fans like over-the-top discussions about their 2025 schedule, which ended up being one of the most favorable in NFL history in terms of opponent winning percentage.
At the end of the day, good teams dominate the teams beneath their weight class. From Week 4 on last year, the Patriots only lost one regular-season game — 35-31 to Buffalo, after New England led 21-0 in the first half.
The Browns’ upcoming schedule could provide a similar opportunity. They’re about to face a brutal stretch of four road games in five weeks, but those road opponents — Jets (1-3), Titans (0-4), Steelers (2-2), and Saints (1-3) — look far less daunting than they did a month ago.
After a home game against the winless Houston Texans in Week 10, the Browns will come out of their bye week with consecutive home games against the Bengals, Raiders, and Falcons.
Will Cleveland win 10 straight like the 2025 Patriots did? That feels extremely unlikely. But the Browns have a chance to win their fourth in a row this week against the Jets, and they should be able to stack more in that column through a favorable middle portion of their schedule.
The Browns may be on the right side of the early-season injury luck
One of the underrated storylines of New England’s 2025 run was its injury luck. Aside from losing linebacker Robert Spillane, defensive tackle Milton Williams, and left tackle Will Campbell for stretches, the Patriots were able to avoid the major rash of injuries that can derail a season. Spillane, Campbell, and Williams all returned for the Patriots’ playoff run.
The Browns lost a key piece in edge rusher Alex Wright during training camp and are currently dealing with a knee injury to top defensive tackle Mason Graham. It doesn’t appear that Graham is headed for injured reserve, though. Monken hasn’t yet ruled Graham out for Sunday’s game against the Jets (though he did not practice on Wednesday).
On the flip side, opponent injury luck could work in Cleveland's favor here.
The Jets could be down a number of key starters this week, including running back Breece Hall, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, guard Dylan Parham, and defensive back Jarvis Brownlee Jr.
Next week, the Browns will get the Baltimore Ravens at home in what could be a matchup for sole possession of first place in the division. Quarterback Lamar Jackson is currently considered week-to-week with an ankle injury and feels questionable at best for Week 6.
Cleveland’s losing culture is beginning to shift before our eyes
This obviously isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. The Patriots' 8-26 stretch was more of a blip on the radar compared to Cleveland’s, which was more par for the course for a franchise that’s been desperately trying to build a consistent winner.
But as soon as Vrabel arrived in Foxboro, the Patriots began mixing things up, specifically by cutting ties with aging veterans to open up opportunities for the team's young talent to shine.
Vrabel, a defensive-minded head coach, for example quickly replaced safety Kyle Dugger with rookie Craig Woodson, which helped take the defense to the next level. Monken has already made comparable moves on offense, like inserting Austin Barber into the starting lineup at guard, or demoting veteran wideout Jerry Jeudy in favor of second-round rookie Denzel Boston.
The ability to make tough roster decisions while establishing a culture and getting ultimate buy-in is never a given. Vrabel got it in short order during the 2025 season. The Browns are giving off similar vibes.
Maybe it won’t yield a Super Bowl run, but the Browns are 3-1 and look more than capable of making some serious noise this season. Everyone viewed the Patriots as a flash in the pan last year — until they couldn't anymore.
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