SAFE, SENSIBLE CHOICE: Josh McDaniels went 20-33 in his two stints as a head coach, but he’s proven to be a skilled coordinator in 19 years as a play caller, and should be a terrific mentor for Drake Maye and fellow young quarterback Joe Milton. Ben Volin has more on McDaniels returning to bring stability and clean up the mess.
HE'S THE ONE: The 48-year-old McDaniels will play a critical role in building the offense, with Vrabel expected to focus more on game management and situational awareness. Nicole Yang has more on the move.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: The Patriots also got their defensive coordinator, hiring Lions’ defensive line coach and run game coordinator Terrell Williams. Nicole Yang looks at Williams's coaching career.
ANALYZE THIS: Beginning this week, Christopher Price is examining the positional groups on the Patriots roster. Here is the series so far: Offensive line | Wide receivers
IT IS USELESS TO RESIST: Dan Shaughnessy thinks Patriots fans need to face the facts. Aside from the cheating and the paranoia, today’s Kansas City Chiefs are your New England Patriots in the first 18 years of this century.
TAKE CARE OF THE BALL, AND EACH OTHER: The Patriots are retaining special teams coach Jeremy Springer. Christopher Price has the story.
AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Vikings and coach Kevin O’Connell agreed to terms on a multiyear contract extension on Tuesday. ... NFL players can be penalized for the big umbrella “unsportsmanlike conduct” infraction, but there isn’t an official rule against flopping.
Could Patrick Mahomes's actions change that? ... Four Chilean men were arrested this month in connection with a string of burglaries at multimillion-dollar homes in Ohio after a traffic stop in which authorities found what appeared to be items taken from the residence of the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback
Joe Burrow.
NOT A FAN OF SNOWFLAKES: Ben Volin believes forcing teams to slog through the snow is a terrible way for a league to crown a champion, especially in the highly specialized, offense-happy era of today’s NFL.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: With the regular season (and coaching search) over, Point After will be sent Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until after the Super Bowl. If you enjoy this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up to receive it right here.
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