NFL Super Bowl 60: Are the New England Patriots back? Drake May and Mike Vrabel are the new Tom Brady and Bill Belichick

For those whose Super Bowl dreams have been shattered by the Patriots in the past, there are some uncomfortable similarities to how Vrabel and Maye emulate the Brady-Belichick axis.

At just 23 years old, Maye could become the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl, so he’s younger than Brady, but both made the big game in their second season.

Maye is the third quarterback to reach the Super Bowl after having fewer than 17 points on offense in multiple playoff games — Brady’s Pats’ 2001 offense failed to put 17 points on the board in all three games.

Weather played a role in all three playoff games, but Vrabel’s defense was still excellent, and getting through such tough matchups like the one in the postseason is exactly how Brady and Belichick made their names.

In fact, New England’s win over Denver was only the fourth time since 2001 that a quarterback scored 14 or fewer points on offense and won the championship game or the Super Bowl — Brady was part of the other three.

Maye spreads the ball around like Brady is accustomed to, with nine players this season having at least 200 receiving yards, and he often pops up with crucial plays at crucial time, albeit more with his legs than his arm.

Of the 16 runs Maye made in the playoffs, 12 of them went for touchdowns or first downs — Brady had the same kind of magic on his arm to lead his team to glory.

So a strong defensive coach, a talented and focused quarterback is happy to win any way they can, and some basic drafting and free agent picks have led to a team capable of beating teams or pulling off hard-fought wins in back-and-forth playoff games.

This certainly sounds familiar, and it will be a familiar sight in Santa Clara where the Patriots will appear in 20% of all Super Bowls on Sunday — and the worry for the rest of the NFL is that this may be just the beginning.