FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Learning from 2001: The Patriots are honoring former kicker Adam Vinatieri at halftime of Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders (1 p.m. ET, CBS) for his contributions to their first three Super Bowl championships, which coincides with more than 30 of Vinatieri's former teammates and coaches returning to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the franchise's first title.
It's no wonder owner Robert Kraft was nostalgic this week, drawing a link between what he hopes the 2026 team might take from the magical out-of-nowhere 2001 squad.
"What the '01 team had was that everyone put team first, which was represented by how they came out of the locker room at the Super Bowl," Kraft said of the squad led by coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady and a battle-tested defense that upset the Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI. "When that happens, great things happen."
Another obvious link is that the current head coach, Mike Vrabel, was a linebacker on the '01 squad. Vrabel said this week that he was looking forward to connecting with former teammates at a Saturday dinner hosted by Kraft. The Patriots owner noted that what unfolded last week in Orchard Park, New York -- when the Patriots recorded a 29-26 win over the Bills -- felt like '01 vibes to him.
"There was no way anyone thought we were going to win that game, and our guys put team first," he said. "Drake [Maye] did some things that were spontaneous, like his runs, and we had some of our top players injured, in a tough place to play -- and we win.
With a postseason game on the line, no one has been entrusted more than Adam Vinatieri. Al Bello/Getty Images "When you go back to this [2001] Super Bowl, we played the 'Greatest Show on Turf,' who had won the Super Bowl the year before, and we were the largest underdogs in the history of the game. No one gave us a chance, and there were these magical moments that happened."
Prior to the Super Bowl, Vinatieri delivered one of the most magical moments in Patriots history: a 45-yard field goal in the snow with 27 seconds remaining to tie the Raiders in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs, before kicking the game-winning 23-yarder in overtime.
Given that history, the Patriots chose Sunday's game against the Raiders to honor Vinatieri.
"He made those kicks and we couldn't even get the snow cleared out," Kraft said, calling it the greatest game ever hosted in the old Foxboro Stadium. It was also the last one, because the Patriots went on to beat the Steelers on the road in the AFC Championship Game before conquering the Rams one week later in New Orleans -- then opened Gillette Stadium the following year.