Empower Field at Mile High (Denver) — For nearly two decades, the Patriots knew all too well the annual ritual of NFL teams in pursuit of a Super Bowl writing big checks to poach key players from the defending champs in free agency.
This time, it was the Patriots trying to import a championship culture to their locker room.
Last March, after the Eagles had won the Super Bowl, New England gave defensive tackle Milton Williams the largest contract in franchise history — four years, $104 million — hoping he could help get their defensive front back to an elite level.
And Sunday in the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, as the Patriots trailed 7-0 in the second quarter, Denver went for it on fourth-and-1 at the New England 14, hoping to set up a two-score lead. But Williams broke through unblocked and pressured quarterback Jarrett Stidham into an incompletion and a turnover on downs. The Broncos would not score again, as the Patriots rode their defense to a 10-7 win and a trip to California in two weeks.
“We’re going back to the Bowl,” Williams said from his locker as he celebrated the Patriots’ first playoff win in Denver in five tries. And it means something different for him, in his third Super Bowl in four years, than for the Patriots, going to their 12th but first since 2019.
Williams has shown a penchant for playing his best football in the postseason — he had only 11.5 sacks in four years with the Eagles, but came up with two (and a forced fumble and recovery) against the Chiefs in last year’s Super Bowl. In New England, he had 3.5 sacks in the regular season, missing five games with injury, but came through with two sacks in the wild-card win over the Chargers, and his impact Sunday against the Broncos showed up beyond the stat sheet as well.
“There’s a consistency there. He’s a tireless worker,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel told reporters of Williams’ impact earlier this week. “He worked hard. He was here in the offseason. I think that makes a difference. And then, obviously, just the disruption. I know everybody that rushes the passer, they strive for sacks, and certainly, our ability to affect the quarterback goes well beyond the sack numbers. You can get a sack. I mean, Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez] got a sack. The quarterback ran out of bounds. And so, if you just look at that, it can be somewhat misleading. But he certainly has brought some disruption … I think he has improved some of his technique in the run game and things that we’ve talked about. He’s consciously tried to work on that, and I appreciate that.”
NFL teams are often reluctant to give their biggest contracts to outside players, wanting to reward their own best players first and foremost. But Vrabel said his research showed him what kind of person Williams was as much as what kind of player, so he was confident a huge NFL payday wouldn’t change his motivation to be among the league’s best players.
“Having done a lot of work with him coming out and just knowing who he is as a person, but all his family,” Vrabel said. “I think his parents have been fantastic raising him and his sisters. When you have good bones, you can survive a lot. So, for a young player to come into a lot of money like that, it is important that they remain grounded, they remain hungry and want to continue to work. And I know that his parents and his family have a lot to do with that.”
Championship teams can’t keep all their best players, and the Eagles took a step back after losing players like Williams and edge rusher Josh Sweat, who had a career-best 12 sacks in his first year with the Cardinals. Philadelphia knew it had two young defensive tackles back in Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo stepped up nicely into Williams’ role with six sacks in a breakout season.
At this time last year, Milton Williams was just days away from becoming a Super Bowl champ with the Eagles. Now, Williams is days away from potentially repeating as a Super Bowl champ. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images)
Williams did not go to New England expecting a return trip to the Super Bowl. The Patriots had finished 4-13 in each of the last two seasons, firing head coaches after each, and while there was optimism in improving under Vrabel, few expected this dramatic a turnaround in his first season. Williams said he first realized the Patriots could be special in Week 5, when they went to Buffalo and beat the Bills 23-20 on a field goal with 15 seconds left.
“Young team, new pieces everywhere, and Buffalo was on a home win streak, I don’t know how many games they’d won, but they hadn’t lost in two seasons or something like that,” Williams said. “We didn’t care [anything] about that. We went in there and did what we were supposed to do, ended up getting the win. I said it after the game: We put it on display what kind of team we can be. We’ve got to be able to do it every week. I feel like we’ve been doing that all season.”
Williams’ impact can be seen even when he doesn’t touch the quarterback. The fourth-down stop on Sunday was one of eight pressures for him. Next Gen Stats tracks “quick pressures” applied in the first 2.5 seconds after the snap, and Williams has six in the postseason — only once has a player had more in a single playoff run, and that was the Rams‘ Aaron Donald in 2021.
“Elite ballplayer,” Pro Bowl corner Christian Gonzalez told reporters this week. “He changes the game. The front seven, the front four, they do so many good things, working together, playing off each other. Milt, he’s a leader. I feel like he’s a little kind of more like me. We’re not too outspoken. We’re not going to be the ones to gather the huddle up and give a motivational speech, but he’s always doing the right things, always leading by example.”
Like much of the Patriots’ defense, Williams has played this postseason with a chip on his shoulder, tired of hearing about other teams and other defenses, even as New England has held three playoff opponents to a combined 26 points. The Patriots’ defensive front has understood their role, whether the national media or the public was aware of it.
“It’s going to be on us,” Williams said. “Every week. Hearing as much talk about the [Broncos] offensive line, what they can do and what we can’t do and all this. No, it was on us to go out there and dominate up front, to try to get Stidham off his spot. We did that.”
As much as the Patriots are known for a dynastic run of nine Super Bowls and six championships under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, very few of the current players know the feeling of playing in a Super Bowl. Cornerback Carlton Davis won a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2021, and receiver Mack Hollins was a backup with the Eagles in 2018 when they beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Tight end Austin Hooper was on the field when the Patriots won a Super Bowl in 2017, but saw it from the other side, as a member of the Falcons team that lost a 28-3 lead.
In the next two weeks, Williams can share with them what the sport’s biggest game is like, how it feels to win and to lose and what they can expect against the Seahawks with a chance to add to the franchise’s championship legacy.
“He’s one of the only ones that’s been in this position on our team, so we’ve been able to talk to him about how the games feel,” Gonzalez said. “I think it’s pretty cool he gets to go back-to-back. It’s been dope.”
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