“I just got off the ball, and shoot, we executed when we needed to.”
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With the Patriots in desperate need of playmakers on both sides of the ball this offseason, New England opened up its checkbook to bring in Milton Williams.
Fresh off a dominant showing in Super Bowl LIX where he sacked Patrick Mahomes twice while also forcing and recovering a fumble, Williams was awarded a four-year, $104 million contract by New England – the largest deal doled out by the Patriots per average annual value.
Even though Williams was more of a rotational player on a stout Eagles’ defensive line last season, Mike Vrabel and the Patriots felt that the 26-year-old defensive tackle was going to be worth the sizable investment that the team made in him.
“I think it’s always about the entire package. When you look at compensation, it’s the body of work. It’s what they’re going to do for us,” Vrabel said of Williams in March. “There’s a high ceiling and a great vision about the person, the effort, the skillset, the speed in which he plays. There’s power. Certainly, there’s an aggressiveness. To be able to add him to our defensive line is something that was really exciting.”
Through two games, New England’s defensive unit has left a lot to be desired, especially when it comes to slowing down opponents’ aerial attacks with Christian Gonzalez on the mend.
But, in the trenches, Williams has been as advertised as a pass-rushing anchor on New England’s defensive line.
The Patriots’ top offseason signing once again delivered on Sunday in New England’s 33-27 win over the Dolphins — sealing the victory in crunch time by recording a sack against Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa on a fourth-down play from New England’s 28-yard line.
“The whole game they did a good job of making sure to get the ball out of Tua’s hand quick, and we just kept going,” Williams said. “Me and Harold [Landry] made a good call on that one. … I just got off the ball, and shoot, we executed when we needed to.”
It was far from a banner day for New England’s defense.
Despite a dominant showing from Drake Maye (three total touchdowns) and New England’s offense, Sunday still ended up being a shootout due to struggles on the defensive side of the ball — with Tagovailoa completing 81 percent of his throws for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
But, even with Miami averaging 6.9 yards per play on Sunday, New England’s defense stepped up in the fourth quarter to secure the team’s first win at Hard Rock Stadium since Sept. 15, 2019.
Miami’s final two drives of the afternoon ended with zero points on the board, with fellow free-agent pickup Harold Landry nearly icing the game with a clutch third-down sack with a little over two minutes left in the game.
Landry’s sack (now up to 3.5 in two games with the Patriots) forced Miami to run a play on a 4th-and-9, with Tagovailoa getting intercepted by Marte Mapu to end the drive.
Miami had another chance to try and take the lead in the closing seconds of the game, but Williams snuffed out any hope of another “Miami Miracle’ playing out by bringing down Tagovailoa with just 53 seconds left on the clock.
According to PFF, Williams recorded five pressures to go along with two sacks in New England’s victory over Miami.
After New England ranked last in the NFL with just 28 sacks for all of last season, they have nine sacks through just two games in 2025.
“We’ve been working. We’ve been going hard. Coach has been on us. This ain’t going to do nothing but help us,” Williams said of New England’s defense. “Just keep going, keep building. We’ve gotta move on quick in this league and get ready for Pittsburgh coming in here next week, but this is a good win for us. Good division win. We’re back at .500. Let’s keep building on that.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.