It’s a clear example of that old saying on what a difference a year makes.

One year ago today, the media came up to the press box from post game interviews at Gillette Stadium to an announcement that Jerod Mayo, who was standing at the podium a half hour earlier,had been fired. Someone even blurted out, “Already????!!!”

Fast forward 365 days later, and we’re talking about the No. 2 seed in the AFC, a team that blew away Miami 38-10 and will host the L.A.Chargers here at Gillette next Sunday night in an AFC Wild Card game. Media last night returned to the press box wondering about other scores, next weekend’s playoff schedule, etc.

The quarterback, Drake Maye, was miffed that he was taken out of the final game after one series replaced by a player who was openly challenging him, in his mind, for the future starting job.

Some 365 days later, chants of “MVP” continued for Maye, and you know what, he may just get it.

You can bet he had no issue being pulled yesterday with 11:01 left, the Patriots up 38-10 replaced by a player, Josh Dobbs, who is no threat to Maye or likely too often the opposition.

Maye was asked after the game that with the MVP race, what stat was he most proud of?

“I think 14 wins,” he said. “And 8-0 on the road… From there, the ability to get a lot of people involved. …

“We’ve come a long way. We’ve built this identity, play to it and good things happen.”

Right answer, and good things have. As tight end Hunter Henry said with a bit of a sarcastic chuckle, “This is a different team from a year ago.”

That team had a lot of players grumbling, many stumbling. The idea was to bring in players and coaches who would get rid of the bumbling.

As Maye said when asked about the turnaround, “I think it starts from the top down.”

And of course, as he inferred, that began with the Krafts hiring one Mike Vrabel to be their head coach. Hey, Vrabel was part of a similar turnaround, right? He wasn’t on the 2000 Patriots team that went 5-11, but he arrived in that off-season as a free agent from Pittsburg to play a key role on a 2001 Patriots team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

He knows the formula.

“We got the right guys in the building at the right time, and we got good quarterback play,” Vrabel said. “We figured out how to not beat ourselves. I think we play to an identity, and guys make plays.

“That’s what happens. I’m excited for all those guys that — again, when you chase wins, usually the production comes along with it, so we need to focus on winning and the efforts that are going to help us win, and in turn you end up with all the plays that you’re going to need, and I think you saw that.”

You talk about the difference one year makes, how about seven? Seven years ago yesterday, Tom Brady played his last game as a Patriot, a 20-13 Wild Card playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The coach of Tennessee then? Well you all know it was one Mike Vrabel.

Now seven years later, he has basically pulled them from the doldrums he helped put them in. No wonder when he was asked how he was feeling yesterday, his answer was one word.

“Fantastic,” he said.

That’s the Patriots on Jan. 5, 2026.