Karen Guregian: How the Patriots can avoid being the next one-hit Super Bowl wonder

Karen Guregian’s football analysis is sponsored by Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, a Leading Boston Personal Injury Firm.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - It’s not all that uncommon to see teams that have surprising seasons, and reach the Super Bowl, turn out to be nothing more than one-hit wonders.

They flash for one magical season, and then disappear, rarely, if ever, getting back to the dance. See the Cincinnati Bengals for details.

Will that be the Patriots fate?

They weren’t on the same level as the Seattle Seahawks, who disposed of them rather easily, 29-13, in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium Sunday night.

They were beaten by the better, more talented team. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel didn’t disagree.

But the NFL’s Coach of the Year also said plenty regarding the Patriots future. He said they were “disappointed but not discouraged.”

The discouraging part will come if improvements aren’t made, if they don’t make upgrades, and bring in more talent.

If they stand pat, that’s the recipe for a one-hit wonder.

This season, the Patriots did well in the draft, and in free agency. It can’t stop there.

They need to continue to lure in top free agents, and score in the draft.

This was a great run by a good team that had every ounce squeezed out of it over the course of the past six months.

When they ran into the better teams during the post-season, each victory became incrementally harder.

They just couldn’t get over the final hurdle.

Asked if he felt the Super Bowl experience was valuable even in defeat, Vrabel provided a telling answer.

“It’s only valuable if we understand what it takes and what we’re going to need to do to improve,” Vrabel said. “If we don’t do that, then it won’t have been very valuable.”

Bingo.

Vrabel also pointed out they are ahead of the curve in their rebuild process - 307 days to be exact.

There’s little question about that.

The point now is to keep progressing, keep getting better.

They have decisions to make on productive players who are set to become free agents (K’Lavon Chaisson, Jaylinn Hawkins, Khyiris Tonga), as well as whether to extend stars who have another year. Christian Gonzalez, who was the Patriots’ best player on the field against the Seahawks, is the prime example in that category.

They also have to decide if Will Campbell, who, according to Next Gen stats, allowed 14 pressures, is best suited at tackle or guard.

Those decisions will impact who they target in free agency, the draft and beyond. But pass rush, wide receiver and offensive tackle help would appear the top priorities.

Basically, they’re off to a good start. They have a good nucleus of players, a top-notch head coach, and, they hit the lottery with Drake Maye.

Obviously, after an other-worldly regular season, the second-year quarterback’s postseason was a disappointment.

He didn’t play anywhere near the level he did during the regular season. But he’ll learn from it.

“There’s plays I’ll think about for the next probably seven months until we’re back in September playing our first one,” said Maye, who threw two touchdown passes, but also had two interceptions and a lost fumble in defeat.

“I think you live, you learn, the losses they hurt, and think you learn when you win and you remember this feeling when you lose. I know there’s a lot of things you wish you could have back, but it’s only going to make you stronger in the end.”

With Vrabel and Maye, and a a few other cornerstone pieces (Milton Williams, Gonzalez) in-house, with more to be added, they’ll be a contending team for many years to come.

The players were optimistic about the future. They insist they’ll be back. They will, but this game was proof they need more to win a championship.

“This is our first year here. No one thought we’d be here,” Carlton Davis III said. “We put the league on notice. Obviously, we didn’t get the job done. We have a bright future. We have a lot of great young players coming in and taking the league by storm in the first year ... I have a feeling we’ll be back.”

Vrabel should, and will continue to bring in players who fit the mold. His mold. The braintrust with Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden and John Streicher will make a point of bringing in the right people.

“Every year is a new year,” Vrabel said. “We have to continue to try to improve the roster, continue to improve what we do, continue to improve how we do it.

“Continue to believe in people, continue to get the right people in the building. And start over and know how hard it is each and every year.”

The players talked about using the loss as fuel going forward.

Vrabel wants them to use it as fuel. That was the post-game buzzword in defeat. And that’s fine. But that can only take them so far.

“I mean, the world isn’t going to stop spinning because we lost. It sucks right now but it shouldn’t take away from the growth we had as a team this year or the number of guys who stepped up in big moments,” linebacker Harold Landry said. “Now, it’s about going into the offseason eager to learn, eager to improve and continuing to build on the success we had this year.”

Veteran offensive lineman Morgan Moses, who is under contract for two more seasons, agreed.

“We got a foundation. That’s the biggest thing,” he said. “We got a foundation where we can move on and build off of for next year.”

That’s the ticket. Continue to build. Don’t settle for one swing at the Lombardi Trophy.

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