Yes, Sunday was another beautiful day at Gillette Stadium, not a cloud in the sky, the New England Patriots were up 21-7 and owner Robert Kraft was in his glory as the celebs are back.

There was Kraft sitting next to hip-hop star Cardi B,girlfriend of Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs on full display on the video screen. Cheers galore. Diggs was seen dancing on the sideline,more cheers.

And later, a 24-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. But not the way it was scripted,and that may be a good thing.

“Every game’s not going to be a blowout,” Patriot corner Marcus Jones said. “When you cannot play a clean game and get the ‘W’, it means a lot.”

The Patriots won by the hair on their chinstraps, a missed extra point attempt by former Patriots kicker Parker Romo, and a screwed up drive that the Falcons should have been able to give Romo a second chance. It was a sequence that showed that they are the Falcons and will always be the Falcons, as Penix first took a foolish intentional grounding penalty after center Ryan Neuzil snapped the ball early. Penix said the linemen heard clapping and assumed it was him wanting the ball. Instead he got Patriot Milton Williams coming at him and he just flicked the ball to the ground. As Williams said, when the ball goes, I’m gone.” In the immortal words of student cheering sections everywhere, you can’t do that.

Then Penix threw incomplete to nowhere, supposedly intended for David Sills V.

These were things the Patriots might have done to lose a game last year. QB Drake Maye did some things to almost lose this one — fumbled and interception turning into 10 points — but that didnt happen. Head coach Mike Vrabel’s message was for his 2025 Patriots to savor each win, because the teams before them didnt win much at all.

“We’re going to learn from winning so that we don’t have to learn from losing about taking care of the ball and complementary football and how quickly things can change,” Vrabel said.

He’s trying to instill the winning attitude. Oh dont worry,he’ll harp and make sure corrections are made. But he knows this group has a delicate psychological makeup because it’s a mix of players who suffered from losing, winners from other NFL teams, rookies, etc. Just relax,execute — like the third down pass to Hunter Henry to clinch the game and run out the clock.

“They’re buying into it,” Vrabel said. “They see that’s what good teams do to end the game.”

“I’ve got to play better for this team,” Maye said. “It’s tough to win in this league, we’ve got to enjoy it.”

Bingo.

“Just get ready to go on the road. Understand that that’s how it goes in this league sometimes. It’s tough,” Vrabel said. “But embrace — don’t let anybody take the joy of what we do. Joy is authentic. Joy comes from these guys caring about each other, being happy for the guy next to them that made a play. Joy is about what we do in here, and I think that they need to embrace that and be thankful for what they get to do and what I get to do. We talked about when you get — sometimes you get this taken away from you, whether you’re a player and you get cut or you’re a coach and you get fired and you get another opportunity, you want to try to make the most of it and enjoy it.”

Afterward,nearly two hours following the win, Cardi B, Diggs & Co. were on the field in the empty stadium, along with some other groups/guests,taking photos, etc. Good times,because in the 2025 New England Patriots season, a win is a win is a win.